“Peace during wartime is the first issue.” Zelensky explained why elections cannot be held now

“Peace during war is the first issue.” Zelensky explained why elections cannot be held now

“I am ready to hold it (the presidential election) as early as tomorrow, but as long as the war continues, it is impossible to do so, taking into account the constitution, electoral legislation, or above all, the security situation,” the president said.

At the same time, Zelensky also mentioned a number of problems that would arise if elections were held in the current situation. In particular, he asked how elections could be organized under conditions where children cannot go to school and about 9 million Ukrainians are abroad. The president said that in normal elections, about half a million people would vote outside Ukraine.

Zelensky also raised the issue of the participation of Ukrainians living under Russian occupation in the elections.

“What about those living in temporarily occupied territories? Can they vote, and if so, how, and who will monitor the election process there? After all, there are Russian soldiers in these territories,” the Ukrainian leader noted.

According to Zelensky, those who support elections in Ukraine are only thinking about politics.

“I think this is a mistake. During war, peace is the number one goal. Politics is not even in second place,” he said.

“There can be no victory in this war”

In the interview, Zelensky said that victory in the war between Russia and Ukraine is now impossible for both sides.

“It is impossible to win this war. Because of so many casualties, victory lost its meaning for both sides from day one,” Zelensky said.

He said that a real victory now would not be searching for a formula that is beneficial to both sides, but stopping the war solely to save people's lives.

In his opinion, the US should act more decisively to limit Russia's capabilities to continue the war.

“Does Russia, which has the largest territory in the world, need these few kilometers of territory? It is very strange when some partners say that it only needs a part of Ukraine, just these kilometers,” the president said.

He called the idea that certain territories are enough for the Russian leader foolish and said that Putin wants to capture the whole of Ukraine.