The great thing about being the poster-child bastion of democracy for the rules-based order, is that it seems that you don’t have to bother with holding elections. “We’re working with the government and civil society groups to shore up Ukraine’s election infrastructure,” Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a speech at the Kyiv Polytechnic Institute on May 14.
RT reported that Blinken asserted that “Ukraine will hold elections when all Ukrainians—including those now living in Russian territory—decide the time is right. Blinken’s conditions essentially permit Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to postpone a vote unless these territories are recaptured.” RT then quoted Blinken: “That way, as soon as Ukrainians agree that conditions allow, all Ukrainians—all Ukrainians including those displaced by Russia’s aggression—can exercise their right to vote. People in Ukraine and around the world can have confidence that the voting process is free, fair, and secure.”
RT then stated the obvious: “Blinken’s statement implies that the U.S. does not expect Zelenskyy to hold elections unless the millions of Ukrainian refugees scattered across Europe, and those living in the formerly Ukrainian regions of Donetsk, Lugansk, Kherson, and Zaporozhye, can take part. This is highly unlikely, since residents of these regions voted overwhelmingly to join the Russian Federation in September 2022.… In his speech, Blinken praised Zelenskyy for introducing tough new conscription laws, and vowed that the U.S. will keep bankrolling the Ukrainian military `until Ukraine’s security, sovereignty, its ability to choose its own path is guaranteed.”
