"Always ready". Zelenskyy responds to Trump on the election

President Volodymyr Zelenskyy declared his readiness for elections, responding to the statement of his American counterpart Donald Trump. This is what the politician said to the Italian newspaper La Repubblica during his visit to that country.

"I am always ready for elections," Zelenskyy said.

Earlier, Trump said in an interview with told Politico that it was time to hold elections in Ukraine, as there hadn't been any in "a very long time."

The US leader also suggested that Zelenskyy could win the vote.

"They [Ukrainians] talk about democracy, but they are reaching a point where it is no longer democracy," the US president argued.

His words came against the backdrop of the current negotiations on the American peace plan.

UPDATED. During his conversation with the media, Zelenskyy responded in more detail to Trump's words about the need to hold elections in Ukraine. The president declared his readiness to do so, calling on the United States to ensure appropriate security conditions.

• This is not Trump's first statement on the Ukrainian elections. In February, shortly before the scandalous meetings in the White House, the US President stated that Zelenskyy is allegedly a "dictator without elections," and claimed about the alleged record low rating of the Ukrainian president.
• By law, no voting can be held during martial law. If there had been no full-scale invasion, parliamentary elections would have been held in October 2023, the first round of presidential elections in March 2024, and local elections in October 2025.
• CEC and Ukrainian authorities have consistently opposed holding elections during martial law.