Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has said he would call elections if Russia's President Vladimir Putin agrees to a 60-day ceasefire, Göteborgs-Posten reports. In an interview with ABC News, Zelenskyy framed the offer as a straightforward exchange: two months of a complete halt to the fighting in return for a vote.
"Give us two months, 60 days, of a complete ceasefire and we will hold elections," Zelenskyy said in the ABC interview, according to Göteborgs-Posten.
The remarks follow criticism from U.S. President Donald Trump, who said on Saturday that Ukraine "should get a new president," Göteborgs-Posten reports. Trump's comment was tied to Kyiv's refusal to agree to stop attacking Russian energy infrastructure.
Why it matters
Zelenskyy's conditional offer puts the question of Ukrainian elections directly in Moscow's hands, at least rhetorically. It also lands in the middle of a public disagreement with Washington, Ukraine's most significant military backer.
The timing matters for a second reason. Ukraine is heading into winter under sustained Russian strikes on its power supply, and the mayor of Kyiv recently warned that the coming months will be about survival, according to Göteborgs-Posten. A ceasefire proposal framed around a fixed 60-day window is therefore not only a political gesture but also a measure of how urgently Kyiv wants a pause in attacks on its infrastructure.
A proposal Zelenskyy has raised before
Sunday's statement is not the first time Zelenskyy has linked elections to a ceasefire. Göteborgs-Posten notes that he expressed a similar position in February during an interview with Axios.
That earlier opening did not produce a halt in the fighting, and there is no indication in the current reporting that Moscow has responded to the latest offer. Göteborgs-Posten does not report any Russian reaction to Zelenskyy's ABC interview.
The proposal also arrives against a backdrop of shifting pressure from Kyiv's partners. Trump's call for a new Ukrainian president, reported by Göteborgs-Posten, followed Kyiv's unwillingness to commit to halting strikes on Russian energy sites. That position sits awkwardly alongside Ukraine's own energy crisis, with Russian attacks on the country's power system continuing and winter approaching.
What to watch
Whether Putin responds to the ceasefire condition, and whether Washington's criticism of Zelenskyy hardens into a formal change in support, will determine whether the offer moves beyond a public statement.
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