Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Monday he is prepared to hold elections in Ukraine, but only if the country first secures at least 60 days without attacks to make voting possible, despite the nation remaining under martial law since Russia’s invasion.
Zelensky made the remarks during an appearance on Fox News Channel’s “America’s Newsroom.” Host Bill Hemmer pressed him on repeated calls for elections, noting Ukraine’s martial law status and asking what message Zelensky had for President Trump given that a 60-day ceasefire does not currently appear realistic.
“If President Trump wants to change the leader in Ukraine, he has to know that only our people can change. And I’m ready for elections,” Zelensky said. “Really, we need minimum 60 days for security of infrastructure to prepare elections.”
Zelensky described near-constant attacks as the obstacle to holding a vote. “Now, we have attacks each one hour. Iranian Shaheds attack us. Each hour they attack us,” he said. “And we are not speaking about dozens of Shaheds. We are speaking about thousands of drones, ballistic missiles, cruise missiles. How people can vote?”
He said the issue goes beyond legal requirements for elections. “It’s not even about the law. The law is very important, but we speak, first of all, about security,” Zelensky said. “Each hour, our people go to shelters, to bomb shelters because of attacks of Russians, because they don’t want to stop the war.”
Zelensky said that if Russia wants to end the war, it should agree to a ceasefire, and if the goal is to see a change in Ukraine’s leadership, that decision should be left to Ukrainian voters. “If they want to do everything to change the president in Ukraine, yes, they have to respect the voice of people, like in your country, like in every countries, including Russia, by the way,” he said.
Zelensky also addressed a separate question about diesel prices, saying they are tied not to Ukrainian strikes on Russian fuel infrastructure but to the status of shipping through the Strait of Hormuz. “Everybody understands that it depends on the blocking Hormuz, Strait of Hormuz,” he said.
