Zelenskyy rejects plea for wartime presidential election
A long-time political ally of the Ukrainian president — who was recently dumped as defence minister — is the first prominent Ukrainian political figure to call for an election since Russia's invasion began in 2022.
Holding a wartime election in Ukraine while active fighting with Russia continues would "destroy" the country by splitting Ukrainians, according to President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
His comments, released to reporters on Sunday, were Mr Zelenskyy's first on the subject since ousted former defence minister Mykhailo Fedorov called for a wartime poll in a bombshell address last week.
Mr Fedorov's surprise dismissal last month sparked widespread protests.
But supporters calling for his reinstatement later baulked at his call for an election, which is the first such demand by a major Ukrainian political figure since Russia launched its full-scale invasion in February 2022.
"I believe that if we want to destroy the country, then we can move towards elections during this kind of war,"
Mr Zelenskyy said.
Elections in war are prohibited by Ukrainian law. Analysts also say security concerns and the millions of Ukrainians abroad, under Russian occupation or fighting at the front mean it would be too difficult to hold an election.
Mykhailo Fedorov is calling for a presidential poll after being dumped as Ukraine's defence minister. (Reuters: Alina Smutko)
During the same address, Mr Zelenskyy disclosed figures showing Ukraine’s growing shortage of Patriot air defence missiles needed to counter Russian ballistic attacks, with deliveries from Western allies declining in the past three years, even as Russian missile strikes intensified.
He highlighted battlefield gains, however, saying Ukrainian forces have almost completely recaptured the Dnipropetrovsk region, with only about 10 square kilometres remaining under Russian control.
He made the remarks during a two-hour off-the-record meeting with reporters on Saturday, with a transcript released on Sunday.
Elections would split Ukraine, Zelenskyy warns
Mr Zelenskyy's approval rating has remained generally stable at about 60 per cent but pollsters have said that while Ukrainians want fresh faces in politics, many have little appetite for voting now.
An August 5 poll by the Kyiv International Institute of Sociology found that 57 per cent of Ukrainians want elections only after fighting ends.
Echoing his previous comments on the matter, Mr Zelenskyy said a wartime election might be possible if Kyiv's partners could guarantee security, but that no one has proposed such a plan.
"Elections right now are a tsunami for the state, which will split Ukraine,"
he said.
"That's why my strategy is to steer the country toward an ending of the war and to preserve an independent and sovereign state."
Mr Fedorov, a longtime Zelenskyy ally who has been seen as a top political challenger, did not explicitly say whether he would stand in any future election.
Reuters