Zelenskyy says Russia opposes referendum in Ukraine and a ceasefire
The Russians do not want Ukraine to hold a referendum on a peace plan because it would require a ceasefire, and Moscow is not agreeing to that.
The head of state told the media this, Censor.NET reports.
Russia does not want a referendum in Ukraine
He stressed that a vote would require security, which Moscow does not want to provide.
"We must understand that Russia does not want any referendum. First, a referendum requires security, at least until certain issues are resolved. They will keep finding reasons to prevent a ceasefire. It is impossible to hold a referendum without secure infrastructure," the Ukrainian leader said.
- Zelenskyy also commented on a scenario in which the decision would be made by parliament.
He said the Russians could always later claim the parliament was illegitimate if the Verkhovna Rada supported one decision or another. At the same time, Zelenskyy said it is impossible to call illegitimate a decision of the Ukrainian people made through a referendum.
"The Russians clearly understand that if one decision or another is supported by parliament, they can always say later: this was an illegitimate parliament, it worked for more than five years. But it is impossible to call a decision of the people of Ukraine, [supported] through a referendum, illegitimate. Because there can be no illegitimate people of Ukraine. We have one single people — the people of Ukraine. And their decision, the decision of Ukraine’s citizens, is, in my view, the most important," the president said.
Background
- Earlier, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said that if a document ending the war is signed, ratification could be done through a nationwide referendum.
- Trump, for his part, said that Putin did not agree to a ceasefire during a referendum in Ukraine.
