Zelenskyy ‘ready for elections’ but says vote is ‘a question for the people of Ukraine, not other states’ – Europe live | Europe

Morning opening: Zelenskyy’s election gambit

Jakub Krupa

Volodymyr Zelenskyy has said he is ready to hold a wartime election within the next three months, if Ukraine’s parliament and foreign allies will allow it, after Donald Trump accused him of clinging on to power.

As Shaun Walker writes from Kyiv, Zelenskyy, clearly irritated by Trump’s intervention, said that “this is a question for the people of Ukraine, not people from other states, with all due respect to our partners”.

However, he promised to explore avenues for holding a vote in the coming months. “Since this question is raised today by the president of the United States of America, our partners, I will answer very briefly: look, I am ready for elections,” Zelenskyy said on Tuesday evening.

Zelenskyy’s five-year term expired in May last year, but the Ukrainian constitution prohibits elections in wartime, and even his political opponents have said repeatedly that the security and political considerations do not allow for holding an election during wartime.

Zelenskyy’s move also seeks to put more pressure on allies to offer extensive security guarantees as the US-led peace talks progress slowly, with guarantees among the issues yet to be decided.

His comments come in the aftermath of an explosive interview by Trump with Politico, in which he repeatedly criticised EU leaders as “weak” and Europe as “decaying” as a result of their policies. Expect more leaders to respond to his claims in the coming days.

Finally, EU’s European ministers are meeting in Lviv for an informal meeting, which will cover talks about Ukraine’s ambitions to join the bloc.

I will bring you all the key updates throughout the day.

It’s Wednesday, 10 December 2025, it’s Jakub Krupa here, and this is Europe Live.

Good morning.