In the case of conducting on Ukraine's elections in the near future will threaten the unity of society, said the former president of the country Petro Poroshenko, his words are quoted on the website of the party "European Solidarity", which he heads.
"Do you know what the elections in Ukraine mean now? Killing unity. Because elections are always a struggle. And there can be no unity during the elections. Any democracy knows about this," he said.
According to him, only the Russian side will benefit from the elections. Therefore, Poroshenko opposed the organization of voting now. According to him, first it is necessary to cease fire, "the elections must meet the general criteria of democracy and freedom."
Earlier, US President Donald Trump's special envoy Keith Kellogg called the elections on It is important to Ukraine and noted that this is also possible during hostilities.
"I think it's good for democracy. That's the beauty of a solid democracy when you have more than one person who can potentially run," he said.
According to Reuters sources, the United States is discussing how to persuade Ukraine to hold elections before concluding a final agreement with Russia, the winner of the vote could negotiate with Moscow.
The Russian side now considers Vladimir Zelensky illegitimate, since his five-year term of office expired on May 20 last year. Russian President Vladimir Putin noted that "you can negotiate with anyone," but Zelensky "because of his illegitimacy" "has no right to sign anything."
The final agreement should be signed only by legitimate representatives of the Ukrainian side, the head of state pointed out. Earlier, he noted that the legitimacy of the Ukraine is owned by Rada and its speaker Ruslan Stefanchuk. He noted that Zelensky is the legitimate president until a new one is elected.
Election of the President on Ukraine was supposed to be held on March 31, 2024, but they were canceled, since martial law has been imposed in the country since the beginning of the Russian military operation. The Law on its legal regime (Article 19) prohibits changing the Constitution, electing the president, the Rada and local self-government bodies in these conditions. For the same reason, elections to the Verkhovna Rada did not take place in 2023, RBC reminds.