Ukraine Urges West to Fund Elections

By Staff, Agencies

Mikhail Podoliak, a senior adviser to Ukrainian leader Vladimir Zelensky, said Kiev is prepared to hold an election only if several conditions are met, including Western financing of the vote.

Zelensky’s presidential term expired in May 2024, but he has refused to organize elections, citing martial law.

Earlier this week, US President Donald Trump said Kiev should no longer use the ongoing conflict as an excuse for the delay.

Moscow has maintained that Zelensky has “lost his legitimate status,” which would undermine the legality of any peace deal signed with him.

Zelensky has claimed he was not trying to “cling to power,” declaring this week readiness for the elections, but insisting that Kiev needs help from the US and European countries “to ensure security” during a vote.

Podoliak expanded on the position on Friday, writing on X that Zelensky had called on parliament to prepare changes to the constitution and laws. Podoliak, however, added that three conditions must be met for a vote to go ahead.

“No missiles or drones can fly during the vote. The only realistic path is a ceasefire,” Podoliak wrote, adding that those on the front and in frontline zones must be able to “elect and get elected.” He said that “millions of displaced persons” make the process “complex and costly.”

“This burden cannot fall on Ukraine alone,” Zelensky’s aide stated, adding that Kiev would be “ready” to proceed with a vote only if the funding and two other conditions are guaranteed.

Commenting on Kiev’s U-turn on holding an election, top Kremlin aide Yury Ushakov told RT that the idea is a ploy to secure a ceasefire. Moscow has long insisted that Kiev would use the pause in fighting to rearm and regroup.

President Vladimir Putin recently noted that Russia held presidential elections in March 2024, even though it is engaged in a military conflict.

While Ukraine and its Western allies have sought a temporary ceasefire, the Kremlin has rejected it, demanding a permanent peace that includes Ukraine’s withdrawal from claimed Russian territories and commitments to neutrality, demilitarization, and denazification.