Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky announced Tuesday that he is prepared to hold elections despite the ongoing war with Russia, provided the United States and European allies guarantee security for the vote. The statement marked a significant reversal from Kyiv's long-held position that elections during martial law are impossible.

Zelensky's announcement came hours after President Donald Trump publicly questioned whether Ukraine remains a democracy, saying in an interview with Politico that "it's time" for the country to hold an election.

"I am ready for elections," Zelensky told reporters during a question-and-answer session. "Moreover, I am now asking—and I state this openly—for the United States to help me. Together with our European partners, we can ensure the security needed to hold elections. If that happens, Ukraine will be ready to conduct elections in the next 60 to 90 days."

He said he had asked members of his parliamentary faction to prepare legislative proposals that would allow changes to election law during martial law.

Trump's criticism

Trump's remarks, published Tuesday in Politico, represented his most direct challenge yet to Zelensky's democratic legitimacy. The US president accused Ukraine of using the war as a pretext to avoid elections.

"They haven't had an election in a long time," Trump said. "You know, they talk about a democracy, but it gets to a point where it's not a democracy anymore."

Trump also suggested he might be willing to walk away from efforts to broker peace between Ukraine and Russia. Asked about his son Donald Trump Jr.'s recent comment that the president could soon abandon Ukraine, Trump replied: "It's not correct. But it's not exactly wrong."

The president said Russia holds the "upper hand" in the conflict by virtue of being "much bigger" and pressed Zelensky to accept a US-drafted peace proposal. "He's gonna have to get on the ball and start accepting things," Trump said. "When you're losing, because he's losing."

Constitutional and logistical barriers

Under Ukrainian law, elections cannot be held while the country operates under martial law, which Zelensky declared after Russia launched its full-scale invasion in February 2022 and which parliament subsequently approved. Under normal circumstances, Zelensky's five-year term would have ended in May 2024, and parliamentary terms expired in August of that year.

Ukrainian officials have previously cited multiple obstacles to wartime voting: the millions of citizens displaced by the conflict, the millions more living as refugees abroad, soldiers fighting on the front lines, and territories under Russian occupation where voting would be impossible. Daily Russian missile and drone strikes across the country present obvious security challenges.

Zelensky acknowledged these difficulties Tuesday. "The most important question is: How can this be done under attack, under rocket fire?" he said.

He has not yet discussed the issue with Trump, he added.

Even within Ukraine's opposition, there has been little appetite for wartime elections. Serhiy Rakhmanin, a lawmaker from the opposition Holos party, told The Guardian that holding a vote now "would only cause harm."

"He's the commander-in-chief, and the country is in a position where we don't have that luxury, whatever issues we might have with him," Rakhmanin said. "It would only help the enemy."

Ukrainian public opinion

Polling suggests most Ukrainians agree with that assessment.

A recent survey by the Kyiv International Institute of Sociology found that only 22% of Ukrainians support holding elections after a ceasefire with security guarantees, while 63% believe elections should wait until after the war ends.

Zelensky's personal popularity has declined significantly. According to an Info Sapiens survey conducted this fall following a major corruption scandal, only 20.3% of Ukrainians would vote for him in a future presidential election. He remains the most popular candidate, slightly ahead of Valerii Zaluzhnyi, the former commander-in-chief who now serves as Ukraine's ambassador to the United Kingdom.

The corruption scandal saw $100 million embezzled from the energy sector through kickbacks paid by contractors, according to Ukrainian watchdogs. Zelensky has not been accused of wrongdoing, but his chief of staff, Andriy Yermak, resigned last month following an anti-corruption raid on his home.

Zelensky said in September he is open to not seeking reelection after the war ends.

Peace talks continue

Zelensky's comments on elections came as negotiations over ending the nearly four-year war continued. He spent recent days meeting with European leaders in London, Brussels and Rome, working to craft a response to US peace proposals that Ukraine and its allies have criticized as favoring Russia.

The Ukrainian leader said Tuesday that an original 28-point US draft had been revised to 20 points following weekend talks between Ukrainian and American officials near Miami. He announced that Ukraine and its European partners would present "refined documents" to Washington within a day.

"The Ukrainian and European components are now more developed, and we are ready to present them to our partners in the US," Zelensky wrote on social media.

Two major sticking points remain: territorial control and security guarantees. Washington's proposals have reportedly called for Ukraine to surrender the entire Donbas region—including territory Russia has not captured—in exchange for security commitments that fall short of Kyiv's aspirations to join NATO.

Zelensky said Monday that ceding territory is not an option. "Do we envision ceding territories? We have no legal right to do so, under Ukrainian law, our constitution and international law," he said. "And we don't have any moral right either."

Russian President Vladimir Putin, speaking at a televised event Tuesday, called the Donbas "our historical territory."

Trump criticized Europe's role in peace efforts during the Politico interview. "They talk but they don't produce," he said. "And the war just keeps going on and on."

The White House did not immediately respond to questions about whether the US would help ensure security during Ukrainian elections.