DISINFO: Zelenskyy’s call for ceasefire to enable elections is a plot to derail peace talks
SUMMARY
To block elections and derail legitimate peace talks, Volodymyr Zelenskyy is demanding conditions that directly contradict Russia’s position. Zelenskyy's proposal for a two-month ceasefire to enable elections is a multilayered strategic gambit, not a genuine democratic exercise. He would use the ceasefire he demands to get a military respite, where two months without active hostilities would allow Ukraine to reconstitute its shattered forces. Also, by proposing elections and blaming Russia for rejection, Zelenskyy positions himself as pro-democracy and paints Moscow as the obstacle, shifting blame for the situation.
RESPONSE
This is a direct reaction to a statement by Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy saying that Ukraine can have elections only if a ceasefire and security guarantees are in place. Russia is opposed to such an arrangement as it continues to press for massive concessions from Ukraine, so it is trying to discredit any other alternative formula, in this case by portraying Zelenskyy’s call as insincere, unfeasible and actually designed to prevent ‘peace’, as Russia frames its maximalist demands akin to Ukraine’s capitulation.
Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s mandate expired in May 2024 amid Russia’s war of aggression, which prevented the celebration of new elections. While the Ukrainian Constitution establishes unequivocally that the continuity of government institutions is one of its key principles in this situation (see here for a full explanation), pro-Kremlin disinformation has been regularly portraying the Ukrainian president’s permanence in power as illegal. However, on 10 December 2025 Zelenskyy said Ukraine is ready to hold elections if security can be guaranteed by its partners. Given that this undermines its core disinformation narrative about Zelenskyy’s illegitimacy, pro-Kremlin disinformation is denigrating every variant of this proposal.
See other examples of similar disinformation narratives, such as claims that Zelenskyy is illegitimate and therefore Russia is directly fighting the West, that Ukraine’s fate is no longer in Zelenskyy's hands, that Moscow can’t trust any peace agreement as Zelenskyy’s regime is stable only when at war, or that Zelenskyy can’t sign a peace deal because he is not a legitimate president.