US President Donald Trump and has urged Ukraine to hold elections, questioning the country’s democratic credentials.
He said: “They haven’t had an election in a long time. You know, they talk about a democracy, but it gets to a point where it’s not a democracy anymore“.
Volodymyr Zelesnky’s presidential term expired in May 2024 but he has refused to hold an election citing martial law.
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in an interview with Politico, Trump said he has called on Zelensky to start accepting peace proposals, noting that Russia has a much stronger negotiating position and will likely overwhelm Kiev’s forces in the long run.
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“He’s gonna have to get on the ball and start accepting things,” Trump said, adding that Zelensky is currently “losing.”
RT reports: Zelensky was elected in 2019 and declared in December 2023 that Ukraine would not hold presidential or parliamentary elections while martial law remains in force. It was imposed after the escalation of the conflict with Russia in February 2022 and has since been repeatedly extended by parliament.
Trump told Politico that Kiev should no longer use the ongoing conflict as an excuse to delay a vote.
“They haven’t had an election in a long time,” Trump said. “You know, they talk about a democracy, but it gets to a point where it’s not a democracy anymore.”
Asked directly if Ukraine should go to the polls, Trump said “it’s time” and argued it was “an important time to hold an election,” adding that while “they’re using war not to hold an election,” Ukrainians “should have that choice.”
According to the Hill, after meeting met with European leaders on Monday, Zelesnky said Ukraine would not budge from its longstanding opposition to ceding land to the Kremlin.
“Of course, Russia insists that we give up territories,” the Ukrainian leader said in an online chat with reporters after the meeting, The New York Times reported. “We, of course, do not want to give anything away. That is exactly what we are fighting for.”
“The Americans today are looking for a compromise. I’ll be frank,” he added.
Europe pledged more support for Ukraine after the meeting.
French President Emmanuel Macron said the Europeans and Ukrainians have “a lot of cards in our hands,” the Times reported, noting, “the fact that Ukraine is resisting in this war, and the fact that the Russian economy is starting to suffer.”
