Ukrainian Parliament speaker emphasizes Ukraine will not allow Russia to dictate its terms
Photo: Parliament Speaker Ruslan Stefanchuk (rada.gov.ua)
Ukrainian Parliament Speaker Ruslan Stefanchuk commented on the statements about holding elections during the war. He emphasized that elections in Ukraine will be held only after the end of martial law.
Ruslan Stefanchuk expressed his position on the statements about holding elections during a full-scale war. In his opinion, such calls should be carefully analyzed: is this a real opportunity for the country or just another tool to destabilize the situation in Ukraine
Stefanchuk emphasized that President Volodymyr Zelenskyy was elected in democratic elections and is now leading the fight for the freedom, independence, and security of Ukrainians. He assured that elections in Ukraine will take place, but only after the end of martial law. This is clearly stipulated by Ukrainian law.
According to him, Russia has never been for peace - it has always masked its aggression with pseudo-peacekeeping. The scenario of Russian policy, as he noted, is unchanged: first, occupation, and then pressure through negotiations, which only consolidate what has been achieved by force. He doubts that this time it will be different.
“We will not copy their practices, where the so-called winner is known even before the vote, and pseudo-elections are held along with pseudo-referendums - in our case, at the point of Russian guns,” he emphasized.
He emphasized that Ukraine is not abandoning democracy, but elections are possible only after the end of martial law, which is a direct norm of Ukrainian legislation. Holding elections under fire, he said, is not democracy, but only a spectacle where the Kremlin is the beneficiary.
Elections in Ukraine
Earlier, US Special Representative for Ukraine and Russia Keith Kellogg expressed the position that the United States supports holding elections in Ukraine once a ceasefire with Russia is reached.
Last week, during the Munich conference, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said he was ready to discuss the possibility of elections in Ukraine. However, he believes that Ukrainians do not currently support the idea of elections, as holding them would mean lifting martial law.
