Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has said he is ready to hold elections in his war-torn country if the United States and other allies can provide the security necessary to ensure the vote can be held safely.
The White House has been pushing for Ukraine to hold elections -- US President Donald Trump told Politico in an interview published on December 9 that "it's time"-- even though Ukraine's constitution doesn't allow for elections during wartime.
In a shift from previous statements, Zelenskyy told reporters on December 9 that he would push parliament to draft legislation allowing for elections during martial law.
A vote could follow in 60 to 90 days once there are security guarantees in place to make sure voting would be safe for Ukrainians.
"I'm asking now, and stating this openly, for the US, perhaps with our European partners, to help me ensure the security needed to hold elections," Zelenskyy said.
"I personally have the will and readiness for this," he said.
Zelenskyy's comments come amid intense negotiations aimed at ending Russia's all-out war on Ukraine, launched in February 2022. Ukrainian officials have been pushing back on a US-drafted peace plan that was seen as heavily favoring Russia.
The possibility of holding elections has been regularly dismissed, with officials saying it would be impossible given daily Russian air strikes across the country, thousands of soldiers battling on the front lines, and millions of Ukrainians displaced.
Opinion polls show most Ukrainians are against holding wartime elections, though with the last elections held in 2019 some want changes in the government to bring in fresh ideas. Widely popular, Zelenskyy's support has slipped in recent weeks amid a major corruption scandal that led to the resignation of an influential adviser, Andriy Yermak.
On the battlefield and in negotiations, Russian officials believe they have the upper hand, and the 28-point plan proposed by the United States echoes most of the hard-line positions that Moscow has held since before the invasion.
"First and foremost, we are working toward peace, not a cease-fire," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov was quoted as saying. "A sustainable, guaranteed, long-term peace, achieved by signing relevant documents, is an absolute priority."
Zelenskyy traveled to Italy on December 9, the latest stop on a continental tour aimed at shoring up support from European allies who are unenthusiastic about Washington's proposal.
In a post to social media, he said Ukraine and its European partners will soon present the United States with "refined documents" on the peace plan.
"The Ukrainian and European components are now more developed, and we are ready to present them to our partners in the US," he wrote.
"Together with the Americans, we expect to swiftly make the potential steps as doable as possible," he said.
There are several major sticking points in the back-and-forth negotiations including the size of Ukraine's armed forces, Western security guarantees, and Russia's insistence that Ukraine be permanently barred from seeking NATO membership.
Zelenskyy told Bloomberg News that US-led talks on a potential peace deal have yet to produce agreement on territorial control in the eastern region known as the Donbas, where Russia is demanding that Ukraine cede land it continues to hold despite years of attacks.
Earlier, Zelenskyy held talks in London and Brussels, which followed three days of meetings between Ukrainian and US officials near Miami.
In the speech at UN Security Council on December 9, Ukraine's ambassador said Ukraine is not "for sale."
"Our territory and our sovereignty are not for sale. We're not at the Christmas bazaar," Andriy Melnyk said during an open briefing.
"Russia wants Ukraine to capitulate, as we just heard. Russia wants us to surrender. But my reply to you would be: 'You'll get a bagel hole, not Ukraine,'" Melnyk said.
He was responding to earlier comments by Russia's ambassador, who insisted that Russia would achieve its goals in Ukraine, either by force or by diplomacy.
Ukraine's top military commander stated that Ukrainian troops continue to control part of Pokrovsk, a strategic city in the Donbas region that Russia has claimed it captured.
"The defense of Pokrovsk continues, our forces control nearly 13 square kilometers in the northern part of the city," General Oleksandr Syrskiy wrote on Facebook. "Myrnohrad is not encircled. In Kupyansk, our successful counter-sabotage operation is ongoing."
The White House peace proposal, and the belief that it heavily favors Russian interests, has drawn criticism from some Republican lawmakers in Congress.
President Vladimir Putin "is mocking President Trump and buying time to keep killing Ukrainian families," Representative Joe Wilson said.
