Ukraine Ready To Hold Elections, Yevheniia Kravchuk Highlights Elections In Russia

Yevheniia Kravchuk. (Twitter/@kravchukev)

JAKARTA - Ukraine is ready to hold elections after all conditions for holding elections are normally met, with President Volodymyr Zelensky saying he would hold them after the war, a parliamentary official said.

The end of President Zelensky's term of office on May 20, 2024, was in the spotlight, with the Russian side questioning the legitimacy of his position, if he wanted to hold negotiations to end the war. Zelensky himself took office on May 20, 2019.

"I will return this ball to the Russian side. Look how the elections in bracket have been held over the past few years?" said Ukrainian Parliament Deputy Yevheniia Kravchuk in an interview on the sidelines of the 2025 Munich Security Conference, Saturday 15 February.

"Actually, they changed the constitution, which is said to be in brackets because it was violated, given the possibility of (President Vladimir) Putin serving more than two consecutive terms. He has actually been in power for more than 20 years in an elected position," he continued.

"Also the general election was actually fraudulent and fake because it was carried out in a legitimate occupied area, and when Putin came to power in the Kremlin, we had replaced six presidents in Ukraine and that was democracy," said Kravchuk.

President Zelensky and Western countries said it was necessary to suspend normal political regulations at wartime and that the Kremlin, given Russia's strictly controlled political system, was not in a position to criticize.

At the end of January, US President Donald Trump's Special Envoy for Ukraine and Russia Keith Kellogg raised the issue of the election, telling Reuters Washington wanted Ukraine to hold elections by the end of the year, especially if Kyiv could agree to a ceasefire with Russia.

This week, President Trump said Russia and Ukraine both wanted peace after telephone talks with President Putin and President Zelensky.

"President Zelensky has repeatedly said we will hold elections after the war ends and when the conditions for holding a normal general election process are met," explained Kravchuk.

"Because we have up to one million people in the military, how will they participate or vote or become candidates? In addition, the security situation on the Ukrainian side will experience missile attacks in various regions," he continued.

"We need to prepare of course millions of Ukrainians who are abroad to give them the possibility to vote, because our consulate services cannot only deal with eight million people. Okay, fewer voting rights. We will hold elections," he concluded.