After the end of the Russian war of aggression, which is still not predictable, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy says he no longer wants to run for re-election.
“If the war continues: yes. “If the war ends: no,” he said in an interview published last night with the Romanian news website Digi24. He added that he could not flee during the war against Russia.
Regular presidential elections in Ukraine would be scheduled for March 31, 2024, according to the constitution. Under current martial law, imposed following the invasion of Russia in February 2022, they should not be maintained. Parliamentary elections originally scheduled for October this year have also been postponed indefinitely.
At the same time, there have been repeated calls from various quarters to change laws and hold elections, even in times of war. So far Zelenskyy has rejected this, among other things due to the lack of financing for the country, which depends on foreign money.
The 45-year-old was elected Ukrainian head of state before Russia’s invasion in 2019. At that time he had already said he would only run for one term. However, he later did not rule out re-election.