President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has said he is prepared to move towards presidential elections in Ukraine under martial law, provided international partners can guarantee security and parliament agrees changes to electoral legislation.
Speaking at an online briefing with journalists on 9 December, Zelenskyy repeated that the question of elections “depends above all on our people” and “is an issue for the people of Ukraine, not other states”, while insisting he is “ready for elections”. He said he had not discussed the issue directly with US President Donald Trump.
Under Ukraine’s current legal framework, national elections cannot take place while martial law is in force. That regime has been in place since Russia’s full-scale invasion in February 2022 and has been extended repeatedly by the Verkhovna Rada. In practice, presidential and parliamentary polls are frozen until martial law is lifted, while the incumbent institutions continue to exercise their powers.
Zelenskyy acknowledged that, in these circumstances, there are only two theoretical routes to elections: either lifting martial law – which he described as impossible while large-scale fighting continues – or changing the law to allow voting during wartime. “I am asking MPs of our faction and other parliamentarians to prepare legislative proposals on changing the legal framework and the law on elections during martial law,” he said, adding that he expects draft texts once he returns to Kyiv.
The president identified two conditions for holding a vote. The first is security: how to guarantee safe polling and campaigning “under missile strikes”, how to enable soldiers to vote, and how to protect polling stations and ballot papers if air-raid alerts interrupt the process. The second is a clear legal basis ensuring the legitimacy of any results produced under wartime rules.
Ukrainian commentators have used the announcement to illustrate the practical obstacles. They note that sustained Russian missile and drone attacks across the country, including on western regions, would make large campaign events risky, complicate the work of electoral commissions during air-raid warnings, and disrupt media coverage and online campaigning if energy infrastructure is again heavily targeted. Millions of displaced people and service personnel would also have to be incorporated into voter lists and procedures.
Zelenskyy coupled his domestic instruction to MPs with a public challenge to Kyiv’s partners. He appealed to the United States, “together with our European colleagues”, to help “ensure security for elections”, saying that if that could be achieved Ukraine would be ready to hold a vote within 60–90 days.
The statement came after Trump, in an interview with Politico, criticised the suspension of elections under martial law and questioned how long Ukraine could describe itself as a democracy without going to the polls. He has also pressed Kyiv to move towards a US peace proposal that would involve ceding control of the Donbas region to Russia, a plan Ukraine and key European partners regard as favouring Moscow.
Analysts in Kyiv interpret Zelenskyy’s move as a direct response to that pressure. By signalling readiness for elections but linking them to security guarantees that only the United States, European states and Russia can realistically influence, the president effectively invites Washington to translate its rhetoric on democracy into concrete steps – such as securing a ceasefire or other measures that would reduce the threat to polling and campaigning.
Commentary in Ukraine also notes that the domestic political risk to Zelenskyy is limited. If sufficient security cannot be provided and elections do not take place, he can argue that Ukraine has demonstrated willingness to vote and that the obstacle lies with continued Russian attacks and the reluctance of partners or Moscow to create safe conditions. If, by contrast, there were a temporary halt in hostilities enabling a campaign, experience from other conflicts suggests that an incumbent wartime leader would start with an advantage in visibility and authority.
The same briefing contained several wider messages. Zelenskyy indicated that Ukraine is prepared to discuss a mutual halt to strikes on energy infrastructure, framing this as a potential confidence-building measure if Russia stops attacks on Ukrainian power facilities and if allies accept a reciprocal limitation on Ukrainian long-range strikes. He also said Ukraine currently lacks the strength and external support to attempt the military liberation of Crimea and repeated that, while Kyiv seeks NATO membership, some key allies are not ready to accept Ukraine into the Alliance at present.
The announcement on elections also sits against the background of Russian attempts to cast Zelenskyy as “illegitimate” once his original five-year term elapsed, and of criticism by Trump and other Western figures who suggest the war is being prolonged to avoid democratic competition. Ukraine’s parliament has previously affirmed that the president and MPs remain in office lawfully until new elections become possible.
By stating that he is “ready to go to elections” while spelling out the security, legal and diplomatic preconditions, Zelenskyy has placed the onus on external actors as much as on domestic institutions.
