After Ceasefire With Russia, Trump and Kellog Want Ukraine To Hold Presidential Elections – Zelensky’s Mandate Expired in Mid-2024
February 2, 2025
Amid what US President Donald J. Trump called ‘very serious’ – if still-secret – peace discussions with Russia, some aspects of the sought agreement have started to leak to the press.
One of the most relevant so far is that the US wants Ukraine to hold elections by the end of the year, especially if Kiev signs a ceasefire with Russia in the coming months, according to President Trump’s Ukraine envoy.
Reuters reported:
“Keith Kellogg, Trump’s special envoy for Ukraine and Russia, said in an interview that Ukrainian presidential and parliamentary elections, suspended during the war with Russia, ‘need to be done’.
‘Most democratic nations have elections in their time of war. I think it is important they do so’, Kellogg said. ‘I think it is good for democracy. That’s the beauty of a solid democracy, you have more than one person potentially running’.”
Read: Zelensky Admits Ukraine Doesn’t Have the Military Might To Retake Territory Conquered by Russia
Trump and Kellogg are working on a plan to achieve a deal in the first months of the new administration, to reach an end to the deadliest conflict in Europe since World War Two.
So far, they have offered few details about their strategy for ending it.
“The Trump plan is still evolving, and no policy decisions have been made, but Kellogg and other White House officials have discussed in recent days pushing Ukraine to agree to elections as part of an initial truce with Russia, two people with knowledge of those conversations and a former U.S. official briefed about the election proposal said.”
If elections took place in Ukraine, the winner would be responsible for negotiating a longer-term pact with Moscow, the sources said.
How would this be greeted in Kiev? It’s unclear. Zelenskiy has said elections could be held this year if the fighting ends and strong security guarantees are in place for Ukraine.
“A senior adviser to Kyiv and a Ukrainian government source said the Trump administration has not yet formally requested Ukraine hold presidential elections by the end of the year.
Zelenskiy’s five-year term was supposed to end in 2024, but presidential and parliamentary polls cannot be held under martial law, which Ukraine imposed in February 2022. […] It could also ignite political instability, the source said, because it would make Zelenskiy a lame duck, diluting his power and influence and fueling jockeying by potential challengers.”
Officially, Russian diplomats say that direct contacts between Moscow and the Trump administration were not yet underway.
The Russian Foreign Ministry says it is still waiting for the US to approve its new ambassador in Washington, a post currently unoccupied.
Putin does not think Zelensky is a legitimate leader in the absence of a renewed electoral mandate and has stated that he does not have the legal right to sign binding documents related to a potential peace deal.
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Author: Paul Serran