TRUMP DEMANDS THAT UKRAINE HOLD ELECTIONS – ‘We have martial law in Ukraine’ – Trump
Donald Trump is demanding Volodymyr Zelensky hold elections that could oust him from office as the price of peace.
His comments came after Sergei Lavrov, the Russian foreign minister, and Marco Rubio, the US secretary of state, met in Saudi Arabia for the first time on Tuesday to discuss terms to bring an end to the war in Ukraine.
After more than four hours of talks, it emerged that both sides had agreed elections should be held in Ukraine before a final peace settlement is reached.
The proposal raises concerns that Russia will use the ballot to oust Ukraine’s wartime leader from office and install a pro-Putin candidate who would agree to peace terms favourable to Moscow.
Later on Tuesday, Mr Trump said the demand for a Ukrainian presidential election “came from me”.
Speaking from Mar-a-Lago Club in Palm Beach he said: “We have a situation where we haven’t had elections in Ukraine, where we have martial law, essentially martial law in Ukraine, where the leader in Ukraine, I mean, I hate to say it, but he’s down at 4 percent approval rating, and where a country has been blown to smithereens…
“If Ukraine wants a seat at the table, wouldn’t the people have to say it has been a long time since they had an election?
“That’s not a Russian thing, that’s something coming from me and coming from many other countries also.”
