Document on end of war may be put to nationwide referendum, - Zelenskyy
President Volodymyr Zelenskyy stated that if a document ending the war is signed, ratification could take place through a nationwide referendum.
The head of state made this statement during a conversation with journalists, according to Censor.NET, citing Ukrinform.
Territorial issue
"The proposal was that they would withdraw from these territories (Dnipropetrovsk, Mykolaiv, Sumy, and Kharkiv regions. - Ed.), and they want us to withdraw from Donbas, where a "free economic zone" will be created.
If we come to the question of a potential free economic zone in the Donbas, we explain that, according to Ukrainian law, we cannot do this even potentially. That is, if we are talking about this, we are talking about a special format, and therefore a special decision, and therefore a referendum," the president explained.
According to Zelensky, only a referendum can determine whether "people agree to this path, if this is the only option for Ukraine—either this or war."
The president believes that the entire document should be put to a referendum, not just parts of it.
"People can express their opinion on the entire document — say yes or no," he added.
Referendum
At least 60 days are needed to prepare for the vote, Zelenskyy said.
"And we need a real ceasefire for 60 days. Otherwise, we will not hold it. That is, the referendum will not be legitimate. An illegitimate referendum is a split within the state," the president added.
At the same time, he noted that a nationwide expression of will under any circumstances would pose a serious challenge for Ukrainian society.
There are some people in the temporarily occupied territories who cannot vote. And let's be honest—they cannot choose how we end the war. This is simply wrong, in my opinion. There is a lot of discussion about this.
However, in the territory under control, where it is possible to hold a legitimate and fair referendum, voting and preparations for the referendum—as well as for possible elections, which our partners are discussing—must take place in secure conditions.
If there is no security, legitimacy is also in question. We explain all this to our partners," he said.
At the same time, the head of state stressed that if the territorial issue is resolved without the creation of potential free economic zones, but according to the principle of "we stand where we stand" proposed by Ukraine — in Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporizhzhia, and Kherson regions — the line of troop deployment on the date of the peace agreement will be de facto recognized as the line of contact, which will be controlled by international forces — then, according to Zelenskyy, such a peace agreement will be sufficient to ratify in the Ukrainian parliament.
"In my opinion, in option A – "stay where we are" – I don't think we need a referendum.
Because if we "stand where we stand," we can end the war based on this agreement and press the issue with the Zaporizhzhia NPP. If something else happens, then one signature will definitely not be enough," Zelenskyy concluded,
Peace plan
- On December 24, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy announced the 20 points of the "basic document on ending the war" for the first time. According to him, this document previously had 28 points.
