Zelensky’s office responds to Fedorov’s call to hold elections in Ukraine

Mykhailo Podolyak, an adviser to the Ukrainian president’s office, stated that holding elections in the country is currently impossible due to the absence of security guarantees and an existing legal prohibition.

His remarks came in response to a call by former Defense Minister Mykhailo Fedorov to organize a presidential vote in the near future.

“The obstacles to an election campaign have grown stronger; it is impossible to guarantee the security of elections. And the legal prohibition remains in force,” — Podolyak said in an interview with the Italian newspaper La Repubblica.

At the same time, the adviser acknowledged the right of any participant in the political process to speak publicly: “Any participant in the political process has the right to make statements, not only Fedorov.”

Zelensky’s presidential term expired on May 20, 2024. The next elections were scheduled for March 31, 2024, but the authorities in Kyiv cancelled them, citing martial law and general mobilization.

The occasion for Podolyak’s statement was a video address by Mykhailo Fedorov published on August 19, 2026 — approximately one month after his dismissal from the post of Ukraine’s defense minister, which he had held for half a year. In the address, Fedorov spoke of a “systemic governance crisis” and the danger of a system in which personal loyalty is placed above professionalism and results when making personnel appointments. He also spoke of corruption and resistance to reforms, without naming specific officials or mentioning Zelensky by name.

Fedorov raised the question of how many years the conflict in Ukraine could last, and stressed that Russia should not determine when Ukrainians “will be able to choose their own government.” The former minister acknowledged that organizing elections would be difficult — it would be necessary to ensure voting rights for military personnel, citizens living abroad, and residents of frontline regions. Nevertheless, he insisted that it was possible.

The topic of elections in Ukraine has also been raised at the international level. In August 2025, at a meeting with U.S. President Donald Trump, Zelensky expressed readiness to hold a vote, but specified: “We need a ceasefire in order to hold open democratic elections.” Trump, in December of that same year in an interview with Politico, stated that the time had come to hold elections for the Ukrainian presidency, since they had not been held for a long time and this ran counter to the principles of democracy. He also noted that Zelensky was “using the conflict” with Russia to avoid holding elections, but allowed that he could win a presidential race for a second time.