The Ukrainian leader said that he would call elections and not run for president again if a cease-fire with Moscow could be reached.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said he would be ready to step down after the war with Russia is over, in an interview published on Thursday.
Zelenskyy said he would call for elections and would not seek reelection as president if a lasting cease-fire between the warring countries could be reached.
“If we finish the war with the Russians, yes, I am ready not to go (for election) because it’s not my goal, elections,” Zelenskyy told Axios in a video interview.
“I wanted very much—in a very difficult period of time—to be with my country, help my country. My goal is to finish the war.”
Zelenskyy told Axios he would ask Ukraine’s parliament to organize elections if a cessation of hostilities between Moscow and Kyiv was achieved.
A presidential election was slated to be held in 2024, but was suspended in accordance with the martial law that Ukraine was placed under following Russia’s invasion in February 2022.
Under Ukraine’s constitution, elections are prohibited during martial law.
Zelenskyy, who was elected as Ukraine’s sixth president in May 2019, has now been in the post for more than a year beyond the 5-year term limit the office allows for.
Ukrainian presidents are allowed a maximum of two consecutive terms.
Russia has often questioned Zelenskyy’s legitimacy as a leader over the lack of elections, and he has also been criticized by President Donald Trump on the issue.
However, during more than three years of war, Zelenskyy has maintained a high level of public trust.
A poll taken at the start of September by the Kyiv International Institute of Sociology showed that about 59 percent of Ukrainians trusted their president.
Some 34 percent of those polled said they did not trust him.
He also continues to enjoy the support of many European leaders.
Zelenskyy was in the United States this week to take part in the U.N. General Assembly and meet Trump.
During his speech at the United Nations in New York, he said that Ukraine has much to offer its allies and partners in the expanding drone arms race.
By Guy Birchall
