MOSCOW, February 4. /TASS/. Holding a presidential election in Ukraine should be a key topic in any potential talks between Russia and the United States, Nikolay Azarov, who was Ukraine’s prime minister from 2010-2014, said.
"How to create conditions for holding elections should be a subject of talks between the Russian side and the United States because these two countries are the guarantors of talks and peace. As for any election in the current situation, <…> you cited some names (former commander-in-chief of the Ukrainian army Valery Zaluzhny, military intelligence chief Kirill Budanov, former President Pyotr Poroshenko, both are on Russia’s list of extremists and terrorists - TASS) of potential candidates. Are we talking about a sham election? Some kind of farce?" he said in an interview with the Rossiya-24 television channel.
According to Azarov, elections are essential to seeing any positive change in the country. He recalled that the objectives of Russia’s special military operation are the demilitarization and de-Nazification of Ukraine and ensuring its neutral status, as it is currently ruled by a Nazi regime which suppresses freedom of speech, persecutes the opposition and represses the canonical Ukrainian Orthodox Church. De-Nazification, in his words, would involve restoring the constitution, guaranteeing democratic freedoms, allowing political parties to operate freely, and releasing political prisoners.
"Elections should be the basis for regime change. Conditions need to be created to make this happen - to establish lasting peace, turn Ukraine into a nuclear-free neutral state, which poses no threats to its neighbors, and, what is most important, to its own population," he stressed, adding that "real Ukrainian parties," which used to exist in the country before the state coup in 2014, need to be brought back.
About elections in Ukraine
The presidential election in Ukraine was to be held in March 2024 but was cancelled due to martial law. Many experts say however that the president’s term cannot be extended amid martial law, unlike the mandate of the Verkhovna Rada, or national parliament). Although Vladimir Zelensky’s office term officially expired on May 20, 2024, he says that the issue of his legitimacy is of little concern for him.
The Ukrainian media periodically speculate on the potential preparations for an election campaign. However, there have been no official confirmations of such information. Meanwhile, opinion polls indicate that military-minded Valery Zaluzhny and Kirill Budanov are more trusted by Ukrainians than Zelensky and some Ukrainian analysts name them as potential candidates for president in the event a presidential election is ultimately held.
As Russian President Vladimir Putin has repeatedly said Russia needs to know who in Kiev it can expect to sign legally binding documents now that Zelensky is no longer a legitimate leader. Given the illegitimacy of the current authorities, any agreements signed with them would be null and void.