Mr. Keith Kellogg, US President Donald Trump's special envoy to Ukraine and Russia, said in an interview with Reuters that Ukraine's presidential and parliamentary elections, which have been suspended in the conflict with Russia, "need to be carried out".
"Most democratic countries have elections during wartime. I think the important thing is that they do it. I think that is good for democracy, you have more than one person who is capable of running" - Mr. Kellogg said.
President Donald Trump and special advisor Kellogg both said they are developing a plan to mediate an agreement in the first few months of the new administration to end the Russia-Ukraine conflict. However, there are currently few details on the strategy to end the conflict, as well as the announcement date of this plan.
President Donald Trump's plans are still in development and no policy decisions have been made, but Mr. Kellogg and other US officials have discussed in recent days about pushing Ukraine to agree to an election as part of an initial ceasefire with Russia.
President Donald Trumps officials are also debating whether to promote an initial ceasefire before trying to mediate a longer-term deal. If the Ukrainian presidential election takes place, the victor could be responsible for negotiating a longer-term treaty with Russia.
It is unclear how President Donald Trump's proposal will be welcomed by Ukraine. President Volodymyr Zelensky has said Ukraine could hold elections this year if the fighting ended and there were strong security guarantees to prevent Russia from repeating hostile actions.
President Zelensky's five-year term is set to end in 2024, but presidential and parliamentary elections cannot be held, as Ukraine has imposed martial law since February 2022.
Washington has raised the issue of elections with senior officials of President Zelensky in 2023 and 2024, but Kiev officials have objected.
Meanwhile, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov refused to answer when asked about the US urging Ukraine to vote. Meanwhile, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov said that he has not had any direct contact with the Trump administration.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has publicly stated that he does not think President Zelensky is a legitimate leader without a new election term and that the Ukrainian president does not have the legal right to sign binding documents related to a potential peace deal.
However, according to the Russian leader, Mr. Zelensky could participate in negotiations during the waiting period, but first of all, he must cancel the 2022 decree that he signed banning negotiations with Russia during Mr. Putin's term in office.
