Zelensky on Ukrainian elections: 'Now is not the time'

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Monday suggested the country was unlikely to hold new elections in the foreseeable future, opining that to do so would unwisely divide the nation amid the ongoing war with Russia.

"We must decide that now is the time of defence, the time of battle, on which the fate of the state and people depends," Zelensky said, according to the South China Morning Post. "I believe that now is not the time for elections."

Zelensky was first elected in May 2019 to serve a five-year term. A suspension of the presidential election while the country remains under martial law, however, would all but ensure he remained in office beyond his constitutional term.

Should a presidential election occur anyway, former Zelensky aide Oleksiy Arestovych has announced that he would challenge him for the job.

Russia currently maintains control of large swathes of the country's eastern and southern territories and is currently spearheading an assault on the fortress town of Avdiivka.

The Ukrainian's president's statement on elections comes amid reports that his western backers have privately begun urging Kyiv to contemplate peace negotiations, something to which Zelensky remains adamantly opposed.

Ben Whedon is an editor and reporter for Just the News. Follow him on X, formerly Twitter.