Ukrainian official denies plan to announce elections soon despite pressure from Trump

Kyiv — President Volodymyr Zelenskyy does not plan to make an announcement about looming presidential elections on Feb. 24, an adviser to the Ukrainian leader told CBS News on Wednesday, after a report suggested he would schedule a national vote due to pressure from President Trump.

“There is no change in the negotiations track that would lead the president to make this announcement,” said the adviser, who spoke on the condition of anonymity. 

The Financial Times reported earlier that Zelenskyy did plan to announce presidential elections would be held as soon as May during an address on Feb. 24, the date that will mark four years since Russia launched its full-scale invasion.

Zelenskyy told journalists in Kyiv last week that the Trump administration was pushing Ukraine and Russia to agree to a deal to end the war by June.

“The Americans are proposing the parties end the war by the beginning of this summer and will probably put pressure on the parties precisely according to this schedule,” Zelenskyy said.

Mr. Trump has at times been fiercely critical of Zelenskyy, including in comments one year ago when he called him a “dictator without elections.” But Ukrainian politicians point out that under the country’s constitution, national elections cannot be held during martial law — which has been imposed since Russia launched its war.

Are elections feasible in Ukraine as the war continues?

In December, President Trump renewed that line of criticism, accusing Zelenskyy of “using the war” to avoid elections in an interview with Politico. 

The Ukrainian leader responded to Mr. Trump’s comments then, saying elections could be held if the U.S. and Europe were prepared to “ensure security” in his country amid Russia’s ongoing assault.

Large public gatherings have been prohibited in Ukraine and curfews remain in place under the martial law measures intended to protect civilian life. Meanwhile,Russia’s deadly airstrikes show no sign of abating. 

In January alone, Russia hit Ukraine with a record 5,717 bombs and missiles, according to an analysis by the Ukrainian group Oko Gora + News and Analytics. Explosive drone attacks have also been relentless. Officials said one drone hit a civilian home overnight in the Kharkiv region, killing a father and his three toddlers and seriously wounding his pregnant wife.

On top of the security risks, experts say legal and logistical constraints also make holding elections during the war nearly impossible. According to Oleksiy Danilov, Secretary of the Ukrainian National Security and Defense Council, it is illegal to hold either parliamentary or presidential elections under martial law. 

The war has also driven many Ukrainian voters out of the country, and there’s little infrastructure in place to enable remote voting. As of November 2024, there were some 5.2 million Ukrainian refugees abroad, according to the Center for Economic Strategy, while United Nation’s International Organization for Migration estimates an additional 3 million Ukrainians are internally displaced and would also be unable to vote at local polling stations. 

For all those reasons, Ukrainian officials say elections cannot be held before a ceasefire comes into effect. 

Many also argue that any national election should include or accompany a referendum for the Ukrainian people to back — or reject — the terms of any eventual deal to end the war, which could include Ukraine making territorial concessions, though Zelenskyy has thus far ruled that out. 

According to the president’s office, such a referendum would only be valid if more than half of the country’s eligible voters are able to participate.

“Elections are just one part of a peace plan,” the Ukrainian presidential adviser told CBS News on Wednesday. “We will vote on all points of the peace plan together, and we cannot cherry pick elections separately.”