Notion that elections cannot be held during war is absurd – Vance
US Vice President J.D. Vance said that elections in Ukraine should take place even under martial law, and this is now part of the current US policy.
According to Censor.NET, he said this in an interview with The National Pulse.
"The president (Trump - ed.) won the election. He won them convincingly. And he made it clear that American policy is to stop the killing and bring the war (in Ukraine) to an end... He wants the killing to stop because he doesn't want innocent Ukrainians to continue to die," Vance said.
According to the vice president, Europe is "going a little overboard in attacking Donald Trump for proposing elections in Ukraine when they say this is a war for democracy."
"How can you criticize the elections when your whole concept of the war in Ukraine is that it is a war for democracy? I think it's ridiculous," Vance said.
According to him, Ukrainian President Zelenskyy must "submit to a democratic mandate if he wants to maintain his legitimacy."
"The idea that you can't hold elections in the middle of a war is, in my opinion, an absurd idea. And the president (Trump - ed.) has made it very clear that he thinks they should take place. So, you know, this is American policy. And I think it is. Martial law currently prohibits elections in Ukraine, and Zelenskyy has used the conflict with Russia to effectively suppress opposition political parties and enrich his inner circle," the Trump ally added.
Trump's statements about Zelenskyy's rating
As a reminder, the day before, Trump said that Ukraine needs to hold elections because Zelenskyy's approval rating has dropped to 4%.
As of the first half of February 2025, 57% of Ukrainians trust President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, while 37% do not, according to a KIIS study.
Volodymyr Zelenskyy called the statements about his 4% rating disinformation.
On February 19, US President Donald Trump called Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelenskyy a "dictator without elections".
According to him, Zelenskyy is a "moderately successful comedian" who allegedly "persuaded" the United States to spend $350 billion to help Ukraine, which is allegedly $200 billion more than Europe.
