Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on Tuesday he was ready to hold new elections in Ukraine, and that he expected to send Washington within a day revised proposals on ending the nearly four-year war with Russia.

U.S. President Donald Trump is pressuring Kyiv to accept a deal formulated by Washington, the initial version of which was criticised by Ukraine’s allies as overly favourable to Russia.

Also Read | Zelenskyy meets European partners, seeks convergence with U.S. on truce

“We are working today (Tuesday) and will continue tomorrow (Wednesday). I think we will hand it over tomorrow,” Zelensky told reporters after shuttling between European capitals to hammer out a response with allies.

Mr. Trump, who earlier accused Mr. Zelenskyy of not reading the latest U.S. proposals, said Russia had the “upper hand” in the conflict, in an interview with Politico published on Tuesday.

He also accused Kyiv of “using war” to avoid elections, which have been postponed under the imposition of martial law since Russia invaded its neighbour.

“You know, they talk about a democracy, but it gets to a point where it’s not a democracy anymore,” Mr. Trump said.

Ukrainian law prohibits holding elections under martial law, without which a presidential ballot was to have taken place in March 2024.

But on Tuesday, following Mr. Trump’s comments, Mr. Zelenskyy said he was ready to organise a new ballot.

“I am ready for the elections,” Mr. Zelenskyy told journalists, adding that he is asking Ukrainian lawmakers to prepare “proposals regarding the possibility of amending the legislative foundations and the law on elections during martial law”.

‘No legal right’

Mr. Zelenskyy spent the past few days shuttling between European capitals to hammer out a response to the U.S. plan. On Monday, he held talks with European leaders in London and Brussels. On Tuesday, he went to Italy to meet Pope Leo XIV and Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni.

Washington’s proposals involved Ukraine surrendering land that Russia has not captured — the entire industrial Donbas region — in return for security promises that fall short of Kyiv’s aspirations to join NATO.

Mr. Zelenskyy on Monday said Washington’s 28-point plan had been revised to 20 points after U.S.-Ukraine talks at the weekend.

He said the land issue and international security guarantees were two of the main sticking points.

“Do we envision ceding territories? We have no legal right to do so, under Ukrainian law, our constitution and international law. And we don’t have any moral right either,” Mr. Zelenskyy said.

“The key is to know what our partners will be ready to do in the event of new aggression by Russia. At the moment, we have not received any answer to this question,” he said.

During a televised event on Tuesday, President Vladimir Putin called Ukraine’s eastern Donbas region Russia’s “historical territory”.

“This territory is important; it is our historical territory, absolutely,” he said.

Trump criticises Europe

Mr. Trump has blown hot and cold on Ukraine since returning to office in January, initially chastising Mr. Zelenskyy for not being grateful for U.S. support.

But he was also frustrated that efforts to persuade Putin to end the war had failed to produce results, and he recently slapped new sanctions on Russian oil firms.

European allies have expressed solidarity with Ukraine.

In the Politico interview, Mr. Trump criticised Europe’s role, saying: “They talk but they don’t produce.”

Ms. Meloni, who positions herself as a bridge between Mr. Trump and Europe, has been a staunch supporter of Ukraine since Russia’s invasion, although one of her coalition allies, Matteo Salvini’s League party, is more sceptical of aid for Kyiv.

Italy has sent weapons to Ukraine, but only for targets inside the country. Ms. Meloni has also ruled out sending troops in a possible monitoring force proposed by Britain and France.

The Italian government last week postponed a decision on renewing military aid to Ukraine, with the current authorisation due to end on December 31. Salvini has reportedly questioned whether it is necessary in light of current talks.

However, Ms. Meloni at the time insisted that “as long as there’s a war, we’ll do what we can, as we’ve always done to help Ukraine defend itself”.

Published – December 10, 2025 01:40 am IST

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. File.
| Photo Credit: Getty Images

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, responding to calls by a U.S. senator this week to announce elections in 2024, said on Sunday voting could take place during wartime if partners shared the cost, legislators approved, and everyone got to the polls.

Elections cannot currently be held in Ukraine under martial law, which must be extended every 90 days and is next due to expire on Nov. 15, after the normal date in October for parliamentary polls but before presidential elections which would normally be held in March 2024.

Top American legislators visited Kyiv Aug. 23, among them Senator Lindsey Graham, who heaped praise on Kyiv’s fight against Russian President Vladimir Putin but said the country needed to show it was different by holding elections in wartime.

Mr. Zelensky, in a television interview with Natalia Moseichuk, an anchor for the 1+1 Channel, said he had discussed the issue with Graham, including the question of funding and the need to change the law.

“I gave Lindsey a very simple answer very quickly,” he said. “He was very pleased with it. As long as our legislators are willing to do it.”

He said it cost 5 billion hryvnia ($135 million) to hold elections in peacetime. “I don’t know how much is needed in wartime,” he said. “So I told him that if the US and Europe provide financial support …”

He added, “I will not take money from weapons and give it to elections. And this is stipulated by the law.”

Mr. Zelensky said he told Mr. Graham that election observers would have to go to the trenches. “I told him: You and I should send observers to the frontlines so that we have legitimate elections for us and for the whole world.”

Ukraine would also need help setting up additional voting access for millions of people overseas, especially from the European Union, he said.

“There is a way out,” he said. “I am ready for it.”

Mr. Graham, a Republican, told reporters during a briefing in a bunker with fellow Senators Richard Blumenthal and Elizabeth Warren, both Democrats, that his message to Mr. Zelensky would be they would fight to keep weapons flowing “so you can win a war that we can’t afford to lose.”

He added, “But I am also going to tell him this: You’ve got to do two things at once. We need an election in Ukraine next year. I want to see this country have a free and fair election even while it is under assault.”

Mr. Zelensky said those fighting Russia’s invasion would have to be included. “They are defending this democracy today, and not to give them this opportunity because of war – that is unfair. I was against the elections only because of this.”