Zelensky is preparing for elections and a referendum on the peace agreement

BarcelonaUkrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky plans to hold presidential elections this spring, along with a referendum on a peace agreement, according to an exclusive report by the Financial TimesThe British newspaper, citing Ukrainian and Western sources, reports that Zelensky will make the announcement on February 24, coinciding with the fourth anniversary of the Russian invasion. The decision is a result of pressure from the Trump administration to hold elections before May 15, under the threat of withdrawing from the US if Ukraine does not agree.security guarantees offered by the United States as part of the agreement being negotiated with Vladimir Putin.

"Ukrainians have this deeply ingrained idea that everything must be finalized with Zelensky's re-election," a Western official reportedly stated, referring to a potential referendum on the peace agreement. The information from Financial Times He asserts that Zelensky's government is willing to comply with US demands, even though polls show a decline in his support. Ukraine was supposed to hold elections in 2024, but they were postponed. sine die due to the martial law imposed in the wake of the invasion.

The new plan to hold elections and a referendum fits with Trump's demand—which the Ukrainian president explained to the press on Friday—to reach a peace agreement with Russia before June, with enough time for the conflict to be resolved in time for the US midterm elections.

Zelensky has said repeatedly over the past few years that it is impossible to hold elections in the midst of a war, with 20% of the territory under Russian occupation, millions of refugees and internally displaced persons, and hundreds of thousands of men and women mobilized in the army, all of whom have the theoretical right to be candidates. Moreover, holding elections would have no practical effect other than to ratify Zelensky, because, although his popularity has been affected by the numerous corruption scandals that have affected his inner circle, he currently has no political rivals.

The referendum on the peace agreement (to which Zelensky had already committedThis would serve to legitimize the concessions Kyiv has to make after more than four years of armed resistance, with tens of thousands dead and hundreds of thousands wounded. What remains unclear, in any case, is whether Russian President Vladimir Putin will agree to any deal, especially regarding the guarantees Ukraine is demanding to protect itself from a potential new attack. What is stalling the agreement now is not so much the territorial concessions as the fear among Ukrainians that, after the annexation of Crimea in 2014 and the full-scale invasion of 2022, the Kremlin will not be satisfied with the territories in the east of the country that it has conquered. manu militariUltimately, the underlying motive for this war is not to occupy territory, but to short-circuit the process of self-determination that Ukraine began twelve years ago.

In this context, why would Zelensky have agreed to call elections now? Surely because, by doing so, Zelensky has a better chance of being re-elected and at the same time sends a signal to Trump that it is not he who is delaying the agreement, but the Kremlin. And although Zelensky has stated that Ukraine and the US have reached an agreement on security guarantees and that he is willing to sign it with Trump, on more than one occasion the US president has blamed Kyiv for not wanting the pact. Washington is conditioning the guarantees on Kyiv agreeing to cede the Donbas territory to Russia, but so far Zelensky has refused. According to the FTZelensky's entourage has already informed the White House that they are open to this accelerated timeline, despite the logistical obstacles of holding an election with little time to spare and in wartime conditions.