Elections coming in Ukraine?

Vladimir Putin insists that Volodymyr Zelensky is no longer Ukraine’s legitimate president because his government has imposed martial law and delayed elections that were due in 2024. Zelensky, with support from Ukraine’s opposition, has countered that the country can’t hold national elections because Russia invaded Ukraine, displaced millions of people, and illegally occupies 20% of its territory.

But speculation is growing thatZelensky may be changing his mind. Ukraine’s president could promise elections in return for a ceasefire from Putin and move ahead with a national vote as early as this summer. Ukrainian officials have dismissed a recent report fromThe Economist that plans are under active consideration in Kyiv, and the man considered Zelensky’s strongest potential rival, former commander of Ukraine's army and now Ukraine’s ambassador in London, Valerii Zaluzhnyi, has refused to comment.

But a recent poll by the Kyiv International Institute of Sociology found that 69% of Ukrainians say they trust Zelensky, a small rise from the previous month. With Ukraine’s future uncertain as Russia continues to push for new battlefield gains, Zelensky might be as popular now as he’s likely to get.

If elections were held and Zelensky won, the Ukrainian president’s credibility would be strengthened both inside and outside Ukraine, pushing the focus of peace negotiations back onto the Kremlin’s intransigence.