Moscow (Brussels Morning Newspaper) – The Russian government stated on February 3, 2025, that Ukrainian elections were necessary for legitimization.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov stated that so far there had been no deep discussions of who would partake in discussions to end the conflict.
At the same time, US special envoy for Ukraine and Russia, Keith Kellogg, stated earlier that the United States is urging Ukraine to hold presidential and parliamentary elections following a potential truce with Russia. According to Kellogg, elections “need to be done,” although if a truce is reached with Russia, he noted that many democratic nations conduct elections during wartime, which would greatly enhance Ukraine’s democracy.
Will Ukraine hold elections in 2025 amid war?
According to reports, the incumbent Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy might be going ahead with elections, both presidential and parliamentarian elections, at the same time in the following year, that is, 2025, if things turn out as positive as expected.
Mr Zelenskyy said negotiations for ending the ‘hot phase’ of war by Russia, after which there might be martial law lifted, “then these elections could happen in this year if everything depends on negotiations” then a significant army presence with full security will provide an avenue through which safe elections can take place.
The last presidential elections in Ukraine occurred on March 31, 2019. The first round took place at that time; a runoff, however, happened on April 21, 2019. In the runoff, Volodymyr Zelenskyy won heavily, receiving 73.22% of the votes against the sitting president, Petro Poroshenko, who only managed to win 24.45%.
