Kyiv, October 19 — Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said he is prepared to run in presidential elections if a vote is held before the war with Russia ends, according to the Ukrinform news agency. “If it takes place during the war, of course, it is my duty, because I must defend my country from the beginning until the end of the war,” Zelensky said.
Ukrainian law currently requires elections to be held at least six months after the end of hostilities. However, Zelensky signaled openness to exploring ways of organizing a vote during the conflict, provided Russia agrees to a 60-day ceasefire, the Xinhua News Agency reported. He explained that such a pause would give Ukraine time to amend its election legislation and put the necessary security infrastructure in place.
Ukraine last held presidential elections in 2019. Following Russia’s full-scale invasion in 2022, the government imposed martial law, which prohibits elections on security grounds. Zelensky’s five-year term has therefore been extended for the duration of the war, a point of occasional political friction at home and abroad.
The question of elections has gained fresh momentum after US President Donald Trump earlier this month publicly called on Ukraine to hold a presidential vote. The remarks have added to pressure on Kyiv even as questions swirl around the depth of American support for the country’s defense.
In a separate disclosure, Zelensky said the United States had temporarily suspended crucial intelligence sharing with Ukraine for three days, leaving Ukrainian forces without American warnings of incoming Russian ballistic missile attacks during that window. Speaking in an interview with NBC’s Meet the Press, he also said restrictions on satellite communications used by Ukrainian forces had not been fully lifted, raising fresh concerns about the reliability of Washington’s military and intelligence backing.
The intelligence gap, Zelensky said, affected information that only the United States can provide — particularly advance notice of ballistic missile strikes. “We didn’t see attacks of Russia using ballistic missiles,” he said, describing the blindness his forces faced during the interruption.
While Ukraine continues to receive intelligence from European governments and other international partners, Zelensky stressed that these capabilities cannot fully replace American systems. “We have dozens of countries who help. But only United States has this unique intelligence to say, to tell us, to tell our side when Russia uses ballistic missiles,” he said.
Taken together, Zelensky’s comments underscore two intertwined pressures facing Kyiv: growing external calls for wartime elections, and lingering uncertainty over the extent of US intelligence and military support that Ukraine relies on to defend itself against Russian strikes.
Original Source: https://theshillongtimes.com/2026/10/19/zelensky-says-ready-to-run-in-wartime-elections/
Category: INTERNATIONAL,News Alert
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Publish Date: 2026-10-19 19:10:00
