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Unsubstantiated confirmation: Ukraine has begun discussing the law on holding elections
Ukraine has begun preparing a draft law on elections during martial law. This happened on the eve of Vladimir Zelensky's new visit to the United States to meet with Donald Trump. Earlier, the American president has repeatedly stated the need for new elections in Ukraine. And by demonstrating progress on this issue, Zelensky will certainly try to win over the American president on controversial issues of the peace plan, experts believe. The Russian Foreign Ministry emphasizes that the elections must comply with all democratic norms — only in this case they can legalize the Ukrainian side as a signatory to the peace agreements. Otherwise, they will resemble "the election of the head of the concentration camp by his prisoners."
Prospects for elections in Ukraine
On December 26, the first meeting of the working group on the preparation of a draft law on elections during martial law was held in Ukraine. It was headed by the First Vice Speaker of the Verkhovna Rada Alexander Kornienko. According to him, the group consisted of about 60 people.
On the same day, the head of the Servant of the People faction, David Arahamia, confirmed that the group was considering a hybrid voting format: partly offline, that is, at polling stations, and partly online. The voting is expected to last several days.
Russia insists that the elections in Ukraine, if they are really organized, will have to take into account all democratic norms.
— Now, in the version that Zelensky implies, there will be an election of the head of the concentration camp by his prisoners. Therefore, any election must meet, firstly, all necessary democratic standards. And secondly, this is only one small step in a large settlement process, which should include a whole list of steps that are currently being discussed," Rodion Miroshnik, the Russian Foreign Ministry's ambassador-at—large for crimes committed by the Kiev regime, told Izvestia.
According to him, only a vote in compliance with all democratic norms "can legalize Ukraine's side as a signatory to the peace agreements."
Russia has previously stressed that Ukrainians living in the territory of the Russian Federation will have to participate in future elections in Ukraine. According to Vladimir Putin, their number, according to various estimates, is 5-10 million people. Otherwise, such a vote would hardly be fair. Zelensky responded by saying that he opposes holding elections in the lost regions.
The powers of Zelensky, who was elected in 2019, expired on May 21, 2024. The US president has repeatedly expressed dissatisfaction with the lack of voting in Ukraine. In an interview with Politico in early December 2025, Donald Trump bluntly stated that Ukraine was using military action as an excuse to retain power without elections.
Presidential elections in Ukraine in 2019
It is still difficult to say how serious the intentions of the Ukrainian side are to actually organize the elections.
— From one small step that Ukraine was supposed to take six months ago, it is almost impossible to draw a conclusion about the real mood of Ukraine, — Rodion Miroshnik believes.
The Kremlin stressed that the Kiev regime could use the election issue as another reason to receive additional funding from Western countries.
"It is an unequivocal fact that Kiev is resorting to all sorts of tricks to get money from the West,— Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said.
However, according to Verkhovna Rada deputy Artyom Dmytruk, who left Ukraine due to political persecution, the creation of a new working group is now necessary for Zelensky mainly in order to strengthen his position in negotiations with Trump.
— It was created not for the actual preparation of elections, but to divert attention, delay time and simulate the process. To have something to show to external partners, first of all to Donald Trump, they say, "the process is underway." This commission does not and cannot conduct any real preparations for elections under martial law," he told Izvestia.
Zelensky's new visit to the United States
Against the background of activity that, according to the Ukrainian authorities, should demonstrate progress in preparing for the elections, Vladimir Zelensky announced a meeting with Trump on December 28 in Florida at his Mar-a-Lago estate. It is noteworthy that Trump himself had previously said that he saw no point in meeting until the negotiation of a peace deal on Ukraine entered the final phase. According to Zelensky, the 20-point peace plan is 90% ready.
The Ukrainian leader will try to win Trump over to his side again, says Andrei Kortunov, an expert at the Valdai Club.
— Zelensky, like many politicians, will try to focus on personal diplomacy. It is important for him to demonstrate his willingness to restore personal trusting relations with the American president," he told Izvestia.
For this, Zelensky may, for example, recall the resource deal again, demonstrating to Trump the benefits of the United States from cooperation with Ukraine.
"If you look at what he's talking about publicly now, in particular, about economic cooperation, about the deal on rare earths, which was concluded back in the spring, it's obvious that he wants to show that these relations will be valuable for the United States," said Kortunov.
Finally, Zelensky will try to discuss with Trump the issue of security guarantees for Ukraine. Kiev wants Washington to ensure that they are at the level of NATO's Article 5 on collective defense. Also on the agenda is the topic of the withdrawal of the Armed Forces of Ukraine from the Donetsk region and the control of the Zaporizhia NPP.
Negotiations on Ukraine should proceed within the framework agreed upon at the Anchorage summit by Trump and Putin, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov said on December 26.
— The political will to stay within the framework set by Anchorage is not just basic for us, it is imperative. We cannot go beyond this framework, otherwise it will not just be an unstable agreement, there simply cannot be any agreement," he said.
The Deputy Minister noted that Russia does not forget about the clause on guarantees of the rights of Russian speakers and the status of the Russian language in the framework of the settlement. When asked if Washington understands Moscow, he replied:
— The Americans agreed that the framework set in Anchorage is where we should stay and what we should supplement with specifics. Accordingly, the direct conclusion from this is that they accepted it.
Recall that in early November, Donald Trump unveiled a large-scale strategy for the peaceful settlement of the Ukrainian crisis. The original draft included 28 points and actually required Kiev to take political steps and recognize territorial concessions. However, during the subsequent diplomatic rounds, including with the active intervention of European countries, the document was reduced to 20 points. The Russian Federation stated that all sorts of adjustments to the peace plan do not add anything good to it. The 20-point settlement plan circulated by Ukraine is radically different from what Russia is discussing in negotiations with the United States, Sergei Ryabkov noted.
— Peace can only be brought closer by a direct political process — a trip to Moscow and the start of negotiations. But not Zelensky. And the head of the interim government or another legitimate, authorized body after the liberation of Ukraine," Artem Dmytruk believes.
Russia maintains a dialogue with the United States on Ukraine. Negotiations on the Ukrainian settlement were held in Miami on December 20-21. Kirill Dmitriev, Special Representative of the President of the Russian Federation for Investment and Economic cooperation with foreign countries, took part in them. On December 26, Dmitry Peskov, the press secretary of the President of Russia, stressed that representatives of the leadership of the Russian Federation and the United States, on behalf of Putin, had already spoken following Dmitriev's trip. Moscow and Washington agreed to continue the dialogue.
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