US pressuring Ukraine to hold elections soon – Reuters
US negotiators have been pushing Ukraine to hold an election as soon as possible, Reuters reported on Friday.
President Donald Trump has repeatedly urged Ukrainian leader Vladimir Zelensky to do so since his five-year presidential term expired in May 2024. Zelensky has argued that holding elections is impossible under martial law, but said in December 2025 that the laws could be amended to allow them.
The American team, led by special envoy Steve Witkoff and Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner, urged Ukrainian officials during recent meetings in Abu Dhabi and Miami to organize an election soon, Reuters said, citing three sources.
US and Ukrainian officials have also discussed the possibility of holding elections alongside a referendum on a peace deal with Russia in May, the news agency reported. Several sources, however, dismissed the US-proposed timeline as “fanciful.”
“The Americans are in a hurry,” one source told Reuters.
Another source said there is still no progress on territorial issues, which remain the main point of contention between Moscow and Kiev.
Russia has said it no longer views Zelensky as the legitimate leader of Ukraine and that his status could complicate the signing of a peace agreement. President Vladimir Putin said in December last year that Russia is prepared to consider refraining from “deep strikes” in Ukraine on the day an election is held.
Zelensky said in December that Ukraine would need up to three months to organize an election, as well as US security guarantees.
Zelensky’s standing has also been affected by a series of high-profile corruption scandals that led to the resignation of two government ministers and his longtime chief of staff, Andrey Yermak. Recent polling shows Zelensky at 62%, trailing former top military commander Valery Zaluzhny at 72% and Kirill Budanov at 70%. Budanov, a former military intelligence chief, replaced Yermak as head of the presidential office last month.
