Ukraine must hold election in order to negotiate, Trump says

 US President Donald Trump has pointed out that Kiev must hold a presidential election if it wants to sit down at the negotiating table to settle the Ukraine conflict and highlighted Vladimir Zelensky’s lack of popularity.

"We have a situation where we haven't had elections in Ukraine, where we have martial law, essentially martial law in Ukraine, where the leader in Ukraine, I mean, I hate to say it, but he's down at 4% approval rating. And where a country has been blown to smithereens, you got most of the cities are laying on their sides. The buildings are collapsed. It looks like a massive demolition site," the US leader told reporters after signing a number of his new executive orders in Mar-a-Lago, Florida.

"I would say that, you know, when they want a seat at the table, you could say the people have to, wouldn't the people of Ukraine have to say, like, you know, it's been a long time since we've had an election. That's not a Russia thing. That's something coming from me and coming from many other countries also," the US president emphasized.

The presidential election in Ukraine was to be held in March 2024 but was cancelled due to martial law. Many experts say however that the president’s term cannot be extended amid martial law, unlike the mandate of the Verkhovna Rada, or national parliament). Although Vladimir Zelensky’s office term officially expired on May 20, 2024, he says that the issue of his legitimacy is of little concern for him.

The Ukrainian media periodically speculate on the potential preparations for an election campaign. However, there have been no official confirmations of such information. Meanwhile, opinion polls indicate that military-minded Valery Zaluzhny and Kirill Budanov are more trusted by Ukrainians than Zelensky and some Ukrainian analysts name them as potential candidates for president in the event a presidential election is ultimately held.