Translated material
Zelensky denied plans to announce elections on February 24
Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky said he does not plan to announce presidential elections and a referendum on February 24, the fourth anniversary of the war with Russia. Earlier, the British newspaper Financial Times wrote about this.
“This is the first time I’ve heard about the intention to announce the 24th [February 2026]. The first time I heard it was probably from the Financial Times. Now I’m hearing it for the second time from you. Secondly, I’ve talked about elections many times, we come to elections when there are all the appropriate security guarantees,” Zelensky told reporters.
According to the President of Ukraine, the topic of elections is more often raised by Kyiv’s allies, and not by the Ukrainian side itself. Zelensky stressed that the main condition for holding the vote remains security.
Answering a question about the possible date of the elections, May 15, Zelensky noted: “We are ready to work with any schedules that our American colleagues will propose, but if we raise the issue of a referendum, I have already said, there must be an understanding of a ceasefire for this, because a referendum in structure is like an election, that is.”
Zelensky also stressed that Washington is not threatening Kyiv with renouncing security guarantees and does not link them with the holding of elections.
Ukrainian law prohibits holding elections during martial law. Due to the war, elections to the Verkhovna Rada in 2023 and presidential elections in 2024 did not take place in the country.
US President Donald Trump previously said that “the time has come” to organize elections in Ukraine. Zelensky responded that he was ready to hold them within 60–90 days, subject to security guarantees from the United States and Europe, and proposed establishing a ceasefire for the duration of the vote. Vladimir Putin, in turn, said that Russia is “ready to think” about not carrying out strikes on election day.
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Zelensky denied plans to announce elections on February 24