MOSCOW, December 17. /TASS/. If Ukraine holds elections in the current situation, it would be nothing but squabbling between Western countries, Alexander Dudchak, leading researcher at the Institute of CIS Countries and expert with the Other Ukraine movement, told TASS.
"Vladimir Zelensky may well be replaced with someone else because he is too focused on promoting the policy outlined by Brussels and London, and the United States is not quite happy about it. That said, Washington would probably want to replace him with someone more manageable and willing to quickly respond to instructions from US President Donald Trump," he pointed out.
"It’s nothing but squabbling between Western countries. For us, it’s crucial to address the threats coming from Ukraine, and the threats will persist as long as the Nazi regime remains in control of vast territories in Ukraine," Dudchak went on to say.
Zelensky’s presidential term officially expired on May 20, 2024, but Kiev chose not to hold an election, claiming that it’s impossible as long as martial law was in place. Russian President Vladimir Putin said earlier that Ukraine preferred to stay mum about the Constitutional Court ruling of May 2014 that the presidential term could not be prolonged. According to the Russian leader, it means that Zelensky’s mandate "has expired along with his legitimacy, and no tricks can restore it."
Trump stated on December 9 that the time had come for Ukraine to hold elections. The US president argued that Kiev was taking advantage of the conflict to delay the process. Zelensky said on the same day that he was ready to hold elections but it would require legislative changes and measures to ensure security so that service members could also cast their ballots. He asked parliament members to prepare "legislative amendments," and called on the US and Europe to ensure the safety of the vote.
Dudchak told TASS earlier that Zelensky was throwing out one idea after another in a bid to buy time.