KYIV, UKRAINE – U.S. President Donald Trump on Wednesday bristled at a question about the Ukrainian president during an interview with media outlet Politico. He admonished Volodymyr Zelensky for failing to hold a presidential election and accused him of not ending the war with Russia as an excuse to cling to power.
“They talk about democracy, but it’s gotten to the point where it’s no longer a democracy,” Trump told Politico, referring to President Zelenskiy, who was elected with more than 70% of the vote in April 2019 but whose five-year term would have expired in 2024 under normal circumstances.
But there’s a reason he’s still there. Ukraine’s constitution prohibits wartime elections, and Russia’s full-scale invasion in 2022 will enter its fifth year in February 2026.
Hours after Trump’s remarks, President Zelenskiy responded that he was “ready” to hold an election as long as Washington and possibly Brussels could ensure security.
“I have asked the United States, perhaps together with my colleagues in Europe, to provide us with security to preserve the vote, and we are now openly declaring that,” Zelenskiy said. “I have the will and the preparation for that.”
So why is Trump raising this issue now, and is it possible to hold an election during a war?
Is President Trump repeating Russia talking points?
Lieutenant General Ihor Romanenko, a former deputy chief of staff of the Ukrainian military, told Al Jazeera that President Trump is indeed “cooperating” with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
President Putin and his cabinet have long called Zelenskiy “illegitimate” and described his government as a “neo-Nazi military regime” that is said to pit average Ukrainians against a “brotherly” Russian state.
Last month, President Trump announced a 28-point peace plan for Ukraine with short and vague provisions that provides little security for Kiev and is widely seen as Moscow’s wish list. Importantly, the plan involves ceding land that Ukraine had already lost to Russia during the war, but President Zelenskiy has repeatedly said he will not cross this line.
“President Trump doesn’t care about what happens to Ukraine or the Ukrainian people. What’s more important to him is that the war is somehow resolved so that he can show leadership and responsiveness to Ukraine and the Europeans,” Romanenko said.
Civilian observers agree.
“The Kremlin gave an ultimatum through President Trump, which Ukraine rejected,” Kyiv-based analyst Iger Tishkevich told Al Jazeera.
And now President Trump is trying to resolve Europe’s bloodiest conflict since World War II ahead of his next summit with Chinese President Xi Jinping, observers say.
“Otherwise, Mr. Trump will have to consult Mr. Xi Jinping, which contradicts Mr. Trump’s concept of America First and Make America Great Again,” Tishkevich said.
That’s why the next two months will be “very complicated” for Ukraine, with Washington likely to push hard for a peace deal, he said.
What hurdles will you face in the election?
Mr Zelensky said on Wednesday that Mr Trump’s suggestion that he hang on to the presidency was “totally absurd, frankly”. He added that he would ask the Civil Service Party, which has a majority in Ukraine’s Verkhovna Rada, to draft a bill that would allow voting under martial law.
However, in reality, it may be extremely difficult to hold elections in Ukraine now.
In February, Zelenskiy and his officials also acceded to Trump’s request to hold a presidential vote. They argued that it could not be held while Moscow bombarded Ukrainian cities with drones and missiles and occupied almost a fifth of Ukraine.
It is impossible for Ukrainian citizens in the occupied territories to participate in the vote, as they are subject to abduction, torture, and even death for their anti-Russian stance.
The election is likely to be a logistical nightmare, with millions of Ukrainians forced into displacement or exiled to Europe and other countries where embassies and consulates cannot handle the large number of voters.
Holding the election will be made even more difficult by the Russian government’s repeated targeted attacks on the country’s power generation and transmission infrastructure, causing power outages across Ukraine lasting several hours.
Who will ensure voter safety?
Analyst Tishkevich said only a full commitment by the United States to intervene militarily if Russia violates the ceasefire can guarantee security.
But he added that this is a step the U.S. government has not taken and is unlikely to take now. “I can hardly imagine security ensuring election security without ending the war.”
How soon can elections be held?
Even if Kiev begins preparing for a vote, it is unlikely that it will take place much earlier than March 2026.
The Verkhovna Rada will take several weeks to draft, submit and vote on a law authorizing the election. Election authorities will then need several more weeks to approve all candidates and allow them to campaign. All previous timelines are “fantasy,” Tishkevich said.
Can soldiers vote?
Kyiv has held presidential and parliamentary elections since 2014, when Russia annexed Crimea and supported a separatist uprising in southeastern Donbas.
However, the hostilities were limited to Donbass and were described as a “counterterrorism operation” that did not require the imposition of martial law in Ukraine.
Lieutenant General Romanenko said military personnel were able to vote, but the majority did not insist on participating.
Securing the votes of hundreds of thousands of military personnel this time around would be nearly impossible without a stable ceasefire lasting several months, he added.
A ceasefire agreement must guarantee all military personnel the opportunity to vote, or there is a risk of violence among them. “They will demand full participation,” Romanenko said.
What do Ukrainians say about the conduct of elections?
Most Ukrainians oppose holding elections without a stable peace agreement in place.
According to a survey by the Kyiv International Institute of Sociology, 63% of those surveyed in September opposed holding a vote even immediately after the ceasefire.
According to an opinion poll, only 22% of people believe that elections can be held with security guaranteed after the ceasefire.
“Now is not the time,” Mykola Chernenko, 29, a sales manager at an electronics store in Kiev, told Al Jazeera. “We must focus on ending the war and all politics will be resolved later,” he said.
Will Zelenskiy be re-elected?
Zelensky’s approval rating exceeded 80% immediately after Russia’s full-scale invasion in 2022.
However, since then his popularity has declined. Valery Zarzhiny, the burly, quiet commander-in-chief and four-star general whom President Zelensky fired in early 2024, is Ukraine’s most popular politician these days.
According to Kiev-based pollster Rating Sociology Group, about 73% of Ukrainians said they trusted Mr. Zarzhni in a July poll.
Mr. Zarzhini, who currently serves as ambassador to the United Kingdom, has largely refrained from speaking publicly on the issue.
The same poll found that Zelensky was trusted by 65% of Ukrainians, but 29% said they “didn’t trust” him.
Mr Zelensky’s popularity in the energy-hungry country is likely to further erode after a scandal over the alleged involvement of Mr Zelensky’s aides in a corruption scheme linked to nuclear power came to light last month.
Do other countries allow elections during wartime?
Two years after its full-scale invasion, Russia held presidential elections in September 2022 despite intensifying fighting in four regions of partially occupied Ukraine that it declared part of its territory.
Many Ukrainians in the occupied territories were forced to vote under duress, and as expected, Putin won with 88% of the vote.
However, the Russian government has never openly declared martial law and stubbornly refers to the invasion of Ukraine as a “special military operation.” Anyone who calls this a “war” faces fines, arrest, or Kremlin-orchestrated trials.
Other former Soviet Union countries are holding presidential elections during still-frozen armed conflicts. In particular, the conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan over Nagorno-Karabakh began in 1988 and ended in 2023.
Presidential and parliamentary elections were also held in Iraq and Afghanistan during periods of active internal conflict.
