Moscow has repeatedly pressed Kyiv to hold elections, calling Zelenskyy an illegitimate leader (Photo: AP).
On Sunday, Zelenskyy said that he would organise elections in Ukraine if Russian President Putin agreed to a 60-day ceasefire, responding to criticism from US President Donald Trump over his leadership. Zelenskyy was elected as the President in 2019, meant to serve a standard five-year term which should have ended in 2024. Russia on Monday said it would cease fire for a day so that Ukraine could hold presidential elections, rejecting Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s offer for a 60-day truce. Because martial law, enacted due to Russia’s full-scale invasion, legally suspends wartime presidential elections, however, he remains in office beyond term.
Reuters reported, quoting Peskov’s statements from RIA.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said President Vladimir Putin would be ready to order the military not to attack Ukraine during its presidential election day. “In the Kremlin, both President Putin and officials at other levels have repeatedly stated that we do not want a ceasefire,” said Peskov. “I think it’s time for Ukraine to get a new president,” Trump told reporters at the White House.
“We want long-term peace and are prepared to do everything possible to achieve it.