Political analyst Kedmi linked rumors of elections in Ukraine to preparations for negotiations

Ukraine plans to hold elections to establish legitimate authorities in order to start negotiations on ending the conflict. Political scientist and former head of the Nativ intelligence service Yaakov Kedmi said this in an interview published on the YouTube channel of the Bulgarian portal Pogled Info on January 10.

"In Ukraine, they are starting to discuss the elections, probably in light of the Russian president's [Vladimir Putin's] tough statement that Russia is ready to negotiate with a legitimate, lawful government," he said.

Kedmi noted that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky (his term expired on May 20, 2024) is illegitimate, his rule is unconstitutional and his fate depends on the United States, which can choose his replacement.

Earlier, on January 3, Zelensky said that he had not yet decided whether he would go for a second term because the election issue was not a target issue for him. The Ukrainian leader said that the elections in the country could be held after the end of the hot phase of the conflict so that Ukraine would be "in a strong position".

Before that, on November 11 last year, the press bureau of the Russian Foreign Intelligence Service (SVR) said that Washington was considering holding presidential and parliamentary elections in Ukraine in 2025 amid continuing hostilities with Russia.

On November 6, Rada deputy Yevhen Shevchenko called on the winner of the US presidential election, Republican Donald Trump, to help hold presidential elections in Ukraine and said that an authoritarian dictatorial regime would ruin the country. The deputy speaker of the Rada, Oleksandr Kornienko, in turn, asked Trump to do the maximum for the re-election of the Ukrainian parliament.

According to the provisions of the Ukrainian constitution, Zelensky's presidential term ended on May 20, 2024. Elections were supposed to be held in March last year, but they were canceled due to the martial law imposed by the president in Ukraine, effective from February 24, 2022.

Russian President Vladimir Putin said on 17 May that the issue of the legitimacy of the president should be resolved within the Ukrainian state, while the issue of the legality of the Ukrainian political leader's stay in office remains important for Russia.