President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Russia will demand that Ukrainians in temporarily occupied territories and those living in Russia be allowed to vote in Ukraine's presidential elections as part of Moscow's strategy to challenge the legitimacy of the vote.
"This morning I received a report from the Foreign Intelligence Service of Ukraine — Russia has already set the task to do everything so that Ukrainians on Russian territory and those in temporarily occupied territories of Ukraine have the opportunity to vote," Zelenskyy told journalists.
According to the president, the Kremlin's goal is to later claim the elections are illegitimate. "The task is to raise this issue — that a large number of people live there and they have the right to vote — in order to then say that Russia does not recognize these elections," he said. "Russia itself is illegitimate, and therefore will send messages about the illegitimacy of Ukrainian authorities."
Zelenskyy outlined two key prerequisites for holding elections: legislative framework and security guarantees. "Elections must be recognized as legitimate afterwards. The second issue is security," he said, noting that safe skies and secure infrastructure are needed at least during the voting period.
The president said partners have sufficient leverage to ensure proper security. "Partners have enough strength to force or agree with Russia" to provide safe conditions during elections or a referendum, according to Zelenskyy.
He also confirmed that certain issues from the 20-point peace agreement will require a referendum.
On 26 December, the Verkhovna Rada held the first meeting of a working group tasked with preparing legislative proposals for elections during martial law. The group plans to develop mechanisms to counter Russian interference in the electoral process.
Zelenskyy previously announced Ukraine would be ready for elections "within 60-90 days" after partners guarantee voter security and parliament adopts necessary legislative changes. The statement came following comments from US President Donald Trump about the need for elections in Ukraine.
Ukrainian Parliament's Speaker Ruslan Stefanchuk said the martial law election legislation would be applied once, after which Ukraine would return to constitutional procedures outlined in the Electoral Code.
