Zelenskyy Pushes Back on Trump Regarding Holding Elections During Wartime
Elizabeth Delaney
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By Elizabeth Delaney, Crosswalk.com
President Trump has been insisting that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s time as the country’s president is “going beyond democracy” and that elections need to be held.
“They haven’t had an election in a long time,” Trump told Politico last week. “You know, they talk about a democracy, but it gets to a point where it’s not a democracy anymore.”
Zelenskyy Responds to Trump’s Call for Elections
Meanwhile, Zelenskyy spent some time meeting with leaders in France, Germany, and the U.K. in London regarding next steps for ending the war. Zelenskyy is refusing to surrender land for peace. At the same time, an official told Fox News that Trump is, “very focused on reaching a conclusion to this conflict that really stops the Russians from moving west,” especially since the Russians have continued moving west under every administration from Bush through Biden. Most European officials are in agreement regarding preventing Russia’s westward expansion, since Ukraine is seen as a critical part of the security of their countries.
“We have no legal right — under Ukrainian law, under our constitution, under international law — and honestly, we have no moral right, either,” Zelenskyy told NBC News regarding holding elections during wartime.
Ukraine has been under martial law since Russia’s invasion, and under Ukraine’s constitution, an election cannot be held during martial law.
That fact aside for the moment, even the general American public feels that Ukraine should not surrender land for peace. A Rasmussen poll found that 58 percent of likely U.S. voters feel that Ukraine shouldn’t agree to a peace deal unless all Russian troops are made to withdraw from all Ukrainian territory.
Zelenskyy Questions How Fair Elections Can Take Place During Wartime
Zelenskyy’s response to Trump’s demand for an election within the next 60 – 90 days raised some great questions:
“How can this be done under missile attacks on our military? The question is, how will they vote?” he told CNN last week.
He added that, “I am asking, and I am now declaring this openly, the United States of America to help me, together with our European colleagues, to ensure security for the elections.”
“The issue of elections in Ukraine, I believe, depends first and foremost on our people, and this is a question for the people of Ukraine, not the people of other countries. With all due respect to our partners,” Zelenskyy told the BBC.
“I've heard hints that we're clinging to power, or that I personally am clinging to the presidency [and] that's why the war isn't ending. Frankly, [that’s] a completely unreasonable narrative,” he added.
Ukrainian Political scientist Volodymyr Fesenko posted the following comment on his Facebook page, picked up by Kyiv Post:
“I would strongly recommend inviting representatives of the Trump administration to serve as official advisors to Ukraine’s Central Election Commission so they can assess the possibility of holding elections in Ukraine during the war and assist with the practical preparations for these elections. They should travel to Kherson (and not just spend two or three hours there, but at least a few days), where Russian drones are targeting civilians, as well as to Kharkiv, Sumy, Nikopol, Dnipro, Zaporizhzhia and Odessa – and above all to the front line (near Pokrovsk, Kupiansk or Hulyaipole, for example)...”
Zelenskyy won the election in Ukraine in 2019 with over 73 percent of the vote, and even during Russia’s invasion in February of 2022, polls revealed that 90 percent of Ukrainians trusted him to navigate the country through the unprovoked aggression. Though Ukraine was scheduled to have an election in 2024, martial law prevented it, and Zelenskyy has continued to remain the country’s president by presidential decrees that get renewed every 90 days, according to CNN.
Christianity in Ukraine is ‘A Faith Under Siege’
Since Russia’s aggression on Ukraine, it’s been discovered that various Christian denominations in Ukraine are being persecuted. Republican Senator Chuck Grassley of Iowa approached Congress in 2023 to raise awareness in Congress about the persecution. In his remarks he stated that, “…in the Russian-occupied areas of Ukraine...religious leaders are kidnapped, and evangelicals are singled out for persecution just like in the days of the old Soviet Union.”
There are faith leaders that are are “…on Putin’s hit list. Putin and his thugs have singled them out for persecution or death if they fall into hands of the Russian military.”
Grassley also pointed out that Russian law bans “missionary activities,” such as, “preaching, praying, disseminating religious materials outside of officially state-approved sites within Russia.”
These things might be considered the tip of the iceberg regarding the depth of the persecution. A powerful documentary entitled, “A Faith Under Siege” details some of the intense atrocities that believers are facing, but that aren’t making it to mainstream media. For details about the stories of these persecuted Christians and the free documentary, click here.
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Photo Credit: ©Getty Images/Win McNamee/Staff
Elizabeth Delaney has been a freelance content writer for over 20 years and has enjoyed having her prose published in both the non-fiction and fiction markets. She has written various types of content, including Christian articles, healthy lifestyle, blog posts, business topics, news articles, product descriptions, and some fiction. She is also a singer-songwriter-musician. When she is not busy with writing or music, she enjoys spending time with friends or family and doing fun social activities such as hiking, swing dancing, concerts, and other activities.
