MOSCOW, 20 December Ukraine and the United States are discussing ways to ensure security during the presidential elections in Ukraine, said Volodymyr Zelensky.
„We have already spoken with our American partners. They are raising this issue, and I think that if they raise it, they know how to help us ensure secure elections. First, it could be a ceasefire or an end to the war, or at least a ceasefire for the election period,“ he said at a joint press conference with Portuguese Prime Minister Luis Montenegro, broadcast by the UNIAN Telegram channel.
According to Zelensky, the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry is working on the issue of organising voting among Ukrainian citizens living abroad. Regarding the issue of former Ukrainian territories that are now part of Russia, he said that elections should only be held in territories controlled by Kyiv. Vladimir Zelensky's term as president officially expired on 20 May 2024, but Kyiv refused to hold regular elections, claiming that this was impossible while martial law was in force.
Meanwhile, on 9 December, US President Donald Trump stated that it was high time for presidential elections to be held in Ukraine, but that Kyiv was using the conflict as an excuse not to do so. Later that day, Zelensky said he was ready for presidential elections, but that this would require legislative changes and measures to allow the army to cast their votes. He asked lawmakers to draft the relevant amendments to the law and the United States and Europe to ensure secure voting.
Russian President Vladimir Putin, in a speech at a combined session of direct questions and answers and a final press conference entitled „Results of the Year,“ earlier in the day, noted that there are five to ten million Ukrainians living in Russia who should be able to cast their votes if elections are held in Ukraine, adding that Russia is ready to consider halting strikes deep inside Ukraine on election day.
TASS/gnews.cz-jav
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