Russia is ready to “ensure the absence of shelling” on the day of a possible vote in Ukraine’s election, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Mykhaylo Galuzin has said.
According to the Russian diplomat, Moscow is allegedly ready to guarantee “silence” on voting day if the Ukrainian authorities decide to hold the election.
He also noted that Russia was allegedly ready to discuss with the USA and other countries the issues of temporary external governance of Ukraine under the auspices of the UN.
Earlier, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said that Ukraine would be ready to hold elections, but after two months of ceasefire on the front. He said this during a discussion after his speech at the Munich Security Conference on 14 February.
Thus Zelensky answered the question about the possibility of elections, which was posed by the moderator, the famous TV journalist Christiane Amanpour.
“I am very honest. Give us two months of ceasefire and we will go to elections. That’s it… Give us a ceasefire, give us security, infrastructure, maybe not two months, but we need many days to prepare. Then give us the opportunity, our soldiers, to vote as they can, I mean, protect our lives, our country, and at the same time vote. This is something difficult,” he said.
He also added that Ukraine could also “declare a ceasefire for the Russians if they hold elections in Russia.”
11 February Zelensky denied his intention to announce on 24 February the holding of elections and a referendum on territorial integrity, as reported by the FT.
April 2026 will mark seven years of Zelensky’s tenure, with a maximum five-year term of presidency. But elections during martial law are prohibited by Ukraine’s constitution.
Also, Ukrainian officials say there are problems for holding elections – the absence of a ceasefire, the unresolved issue of how servicemen, internally displaced persons and several million Ukrainian refugees abroad will vote.
Ukraine is also discussing the possibility of holding a referendum on a possible peace agreement, which could include territorial compromises.