On 12 October, the Kremlin stated that it did not support the 60-day complete ceasefire proposed by President Volodymyr Zelenskyy as a condition for holding elections in Ukraine. Russian presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that Vladimir Putin was allegedly prepared to order a halt to strikes on Ukraine only on polling day, should Kyiv decide to hold the election.
Briefly about the main points
- Peskov stated that the Kremlin does not support a 60-day ceasefire for the elections.
- According to Peskov, Moscow is seeking a long-term peace agreement.
- Peskov said that strikes might not be carried out only on polling day.
- During martial law, presidential elections are prohibited by law.
What alternative did the Kremlin put forward?
According to Peskov, Moscow is focusing not on a temporary ceasefire, but on a long-term peace agreement. He also stated that Putin is prepared to issue an order to the military not to attack Ukraine on the very day of the presidential election.
Such a statement does not constitute an agreement between the parties and does not cover the period leading up to the vote. In verified public statements Kremlin No mechanism has been described to monitor potential failure to deliver blows, nor are there any guarantees that this will be adhered to.
What Zelenskyy proposed
11 October Zelensky In an interview with ABC News, he stated that Ukraine is organising elections, provided that Russia agrees to a 60-day complete ceasefire. The President emphasised that the question of who should be elected head of state should be decided by the Ukrainian people, and called for this proposal to be put to Putin.
Peskov claimed that Ukraine allegedly needed 60 days to regroup and continue the war. In the statement quoted, he did not provide any public evidence to support this assessment. The Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov For his part, he stated that, in his view, Zelenskyy does not deserve a «break» on the battlefield.
What are the legal requirements for voting?
Article 19 of the Law «On the Legal Regime of Martial Law» prohibits the holding of presidential, parliamentary and local elections whilst martial law is in force.
A ceasefire alone does not automatically lift martial law. Therefore, Mr Zelenskyy’s 60-day proposal concerned the security conditions necessary for organising the vote, but a legal basis for the continuation of martial law is also required in order to call an election.
