Volodymyr Zelensky signals openness to elections in Ukraine if security is ensured

Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskiy is meeting U.S. President Donald Trump

President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and President Donald Trump expressed hope that Monday’s critical talks with Ukrainian and European leaders at the White House could lead to trilateral talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin to bring an end to Russia’s war on Ukraine.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky also said he is open to holding elections but stressed that safety conditions must be guaranteed first.

"We have to do safety and circumstances... We need to work in Parliament, because during the war you can't have elections, but we can, we can do security," Zelensky said. He added, "We need a truce... to make possible for people to do democratic, open, legal elections."

The United States has said it wants Ukraine to hold elections by the end of the year if a ceasefire is reached.

As Zelenskyy answered a question about the difficulty of holding an election during Ukraine’s war with Russia, Trump appeared to jokingly hypothesize how a similar circumstance could allow him to stay in power in the U.S. past the expiration of his current tern.

“So let me just say three and a half years from now — so you mean, if we happen to be in a war with somebody, no more elections, oh, I wonder what the fake news would say,” Trump said.

Zelenskyy noted the difficulties of being able to hold elections during wartime, saying a “truce” would be needed to do so safely.

“We can do security,” Zelenskyy said. “We need ... a truce, yes, everywhere — the battlefield, the sky and the sea, to make it possible for people to do democratic open legal elections.”

*With Agency Inputs