Donald Trump said on October 10 that Ukraine should “get a new president” who could “make a deal”, and claimed that Volodymyr Zelenskyy “could have settled this war many times, many, many times, and he chooses not to.”
Zelenskyy, the Ukrainian president, answered the question of elections on ABC’s ‘This Week’ on Sunday with a proposed 60-day total ceasefire. He asked Trump to take the request to Vladimir Putin: “Please tell Putin to give us two months, 60 days of a complete armistice, 60 days, and we will organize elections.”
Ukraine cannot hold elections under its current wartime law for security reasons, according to DIE WELT.
Trump announced an energy ceasefire between Russia and Ukraine on Sunday, saying it would take effect immediately. In a social media post, he wrote: “Do not break it!”
The arrangement was followed by reports of further Russian attacks. Russia struck Kharkiv’s power plant on the evening of October 11, shortly after the announcement, and the Regional Prosecutor’s Office of Kharkiv said Russian forces had hit an energy facility on the outskirts of the city.
Less than 24 hours after Trump’s announcement, Ukraine reported Russian strikes in Kyiv, Kharkiv and Donetsk.
Speaking by video link at a security conference in Warsaw on Monday, Zelenskyy said he had learned of the energy ceasefire through the media. He said Russia had attacked six energy facilities across Ukraine, wounding 33 people.
Zelenskyy said Russia was continuing to hit energy infrastructure in Kyiv and Kharkiv. He said Ukraine would halt attacks on Russian energy facilities if Russia stopped attacks on Ukrainian infrastructure.
The Kremlin rejected Zelenskyy’s broader election proposal on October 12. Dmitry Peskov, the Kremlin spokesperson, said Russia was seeking long-term peace and rejected a temporary ceasefire.
“We want long-term peace and are prepared to do everything possible to achieve it,” Peskov said.
Peskov said Putin could order a pause in strikes for election day itself. “If they really want to hold elections there in Kyiv, then the president of the Russian Federation, the supreme commander-in-chief, will be ready to give the order not to strike Ukraine on election day. Specifically on election day.”
He said the 60 days sought by Zelenskyy would serve to regroup, heal wounds and continue the war. Peskov added that Putin and other Russian officials had repeatedly said Russia did not want a ceasefire.
Sergey Lavrov, Russia’s foreign minister, questioned Zelenskyy’s credibility on October 12. “I don't think he's (Zelensky) earned a break, and I don't think we'll buy into assurances and promises again,” he said.
Andrii Sybiha, Ukraine’s foreign minister, called Lavrov a “war criminal” and said he “has already earned a front-row seat at the Special Tribunal for the Crime of Aggression.”
Before the latest exchange, Trump said on October 9, after a call with Putin, that Russia had agreed to supply diesel fuel to the US and global markets.
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