Keith Kellogg, Trump’s special envoy for Ukraine and Russia, told Reuters in an interview yesterday that the U.S. wants the Kiev regime to hold elections potentially by the end of the year, especially if Kiev can agree on a truce with Russia in the coming months. “Most democratic nations have elections in their time of war. I think it is important they do so,” Kellogg said. “I think it is good for democracy. That’s the beauty of a solid democracy, you have more than one person potentially running.”
Reuters further reports that the Trump plan for ending the war is still evolving and no policy decisions have been made. They cite two unnamed sources who say that Trump is considering pushing Ukraine to agree to elections as part of an initial truce with Russia. That way, the winner would be responsible for negotiating a longer-term pact with Russia. The problem with that scenario is that Russia has made it abundantly clear that they are not interested in a temporary truce, and insist that the underlying causes of the war be resolved.
Without a truce, however, there is a good likelihood that Ukraine will not even make it to the end of the year.
The flip side of the coin is that Zelenskyy is in fact no longer the legitimate president of Ukraine, since his term ran out in May 2024 and he has refused to call elections.
