Zelensky says ready to hold Ukraine elections

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00:00Paris, we begin this edition in Ukraine, where President Vladimir Zelensky says he's ready to

00:03hold elections during wartime, provided the United States and European partners can guarantee

00:09security for the process. Zelensky has asked Parliament to prepare legislation that would

00:14make a vote possible under martial law within the next 60 to 90 days. The announcement comes

00:19as Kiev prepares to deliver updated peace proposal documents to Washington on Wednesday,

00:24while U.S. President Donald Trump continues to urge Ukraine to accept a deal that includes

00:29territorial concessions, a position Zelensky has repeatedly rejected. Gulliver Craig joins us now

00:35from the second city of Kharkiv. Gulliver, a stunning turn of events and a stunning statement by Zelensky.

00:43Well, I mean, it was a statement made in response to a question by journalists, but it is definitely

00:48something new because Volodymyr Zelensky is talking about holding elections under martial law, which

00:54would mean changing the terms of martial law in order for it to allow elections to be held before

01:00a peace settlement is found. He talked about a timeframe of 60 to 90 days, suggesting that he

01:06doesn't expect a ceasefire or peace settlement, I suppose, in that timeframe. He said that he had

01:12asked MPs in Parliament to come up with proposals. So it suggests that he has been thinking about this for

01:19some time. And it wasn't just a spontaneous response to that question from journalists,

01:23but quite how serious it is, I'm not sure. I was having dinner, as it happens with some

01:28Ukrainian intellectuals, as this news dropped. Tatiana Ogarkova, who sometimes comments on France

01:3524, she immediately said, well, this is obviously just part of the game. It's part of the negotiations

01:39with the Americans to get them to provide security guarantees. Perhaps it would be a test of what kind of

01:44security guarantees European and American allies of Ukraine would be prepared to put in place in

01:52order for Ukraine to hold elections more or less safely and fairly. And Tatiana Ogarkova's analysis

01:58would be that this probably just wouldn't happen because they wouldn't actually be able to do it.

02:03And so it's just part of the game of Zelensky showing willing with everything when he doesn't

02:07actually think he's really going to have to do it. But when it became clear and we read the news more

02:12closely that he was talking about holding elections under martial law before a peace settlement is

02:18reached, Volodymyr Yermolenko, Ukrainian philosopher, he said, well, it's true that two years ago,

02:25I would have been dead against holding elections. But now I think maybe I wouldn't be so much against

02:30it because confidence in Volodymyr Zelensky's government has fallen so much. And that may reflect

02:35public opinion in general. And there might be a feeling that although holding elections would be very

02:39difficult, dangerous and prone to Russian manipulation if it happens during wartime,

02:45it may nevertheless at this point be a less bad option than allowing an unpopular government to

02:51continue in wartime. Well, Gulliver, I'm sorry I wasn't part of that table discussion. It sounds

02:57absolutely fascinating. But I'm just curious, was there any kind of consensus as to if this could,

03:03in fact, change Washington's mind on anything, especially when it comes to territorial concession?

03:09I don't understand whether the elections are something I don't see how the elections would be a game

03:17changer for the Americans. The key things that are on the table with the peace negotiations are

03:22territorial concessions and security guarantees, not just for the holding of elections, but to prevent

03:27Russia from violating the terms of any peace agreement and attacking other parts of Ukraine. Those

03:34negotiations are still ongoing. If there were elections, polls say, it's perhaps worth noting

03:40this, polls suggest that if there were presidential elections and Volodymyr Zelensky ran for re-election,

03:45he would lose. That's according to polling, but polling that's been done without any real perspective

03:50of elections happening and any campaign being underway. So, of course, anything could happen.

03:54What do we expect from the documents that's the peace deal that's to be sent back? Well,

04:06so little has come out. So little detail has been, you know, all we've heard is from all sides,

04:12really, including Volodymyr Zelensky, is that good progress has been made and that they're happy with

04:16the attitude that different various people have brought to the negotiations. We understand that from

04:21the original 28-point plan, it's down to 20 points, Volodymyr Zelensky said that yesterday, and the ones

04:27that were most unacceptable to Ukraine have been removed. I understand that to mean amnesty for Russians

04:33about war crimes. The Russian language being made an official language in Ukraine, I think that's been

04:39scrapped. What they keep saying, and what we don't have answers about, is the territorial concessions issue

04:45and the security guarantees issue. I mean, Volodymyr Zelensky keeps on saying that Ukraine will not give up

04:50territory. He doesn't have the moral or judicial right to do that. It would require a constitutional

04:55change. But is that really the case if it's only to be a recognition de facto? It's all a little bit

05:01vague. As to security guarantees, Volodymyr Zelensky keeps on talking about progress having

05:05been made to security guarantees being provided by Ukraine's European and perhaps also American

05:10partners. But it's very, very hard to see them actually being prepared to provide the kind of

05:16guarantees. There would be a sort of Article 5 guarantee that Ukraine would be defended militarily

05:20if attacked again. It's very hard to see them being willing to provide that. And it's even harder

05:26to see Volodymyr Putin agreeing to any deal that involved that kind of a component.

05:32Gulliver Craig, thank you so much for analysis from Kharkiv, the second city,

05:35after that statement, Tobias Zelensky responding to reporters.

05:39Let's

05:39Gulliver, thank you.

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