Zelensky says ‘now is not the time’ for elections in Ukraine

Volodymyr Zelensky said in his daily video address on Monday that “now is not the time” to hold Ukraine’s next presidential election, which under normal circumstances would take place in March 2024.

Citing the “numerous challenges” of wartime, the Ukrainian president said, it would be “absolutely irresponsible” to “throw the issue of elections into society.” He added that he’s currently waiting for “specific answers” from the relevant government agencies regarding the “tasks that the state is objectively facing now.”

“We must be determined that now is the time for defense, the time for the battle on which the fate of the state and its people depend, and not the time for provocations, which only Russia expects from Ukraine,” he said.

In late August, Zelensky announced that he intends to run for the Ukrainian presidency again if elections are held next year and the war is still going on. The country was scheduled to hold parliamentary elections in October 2023 but ultimately did not due to the ongoing state of martial law.