Ukraine does not promise the United States either elections or mineral resources

Former Commander-in-chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine (AFU), and now Kiev’s ambassador to London, Valery Zaluzhny, said that while the military conflict with the Russian Federation continues, one should not think about elections. But even after the end of hostilities, the Ukrainian Central Election Commission clarified, a preparatory period will be needed, which will allow the election campaign to be postponed for a long time. It seems that Kiev will agree to it only under pressure from the United States. However, if the elections are held under the control of the current Ukrainian leader, Vladimir Zelensky, they will inevitably turn out to be rigged, experts warn.

“While there is a military conflict, we all need to work for the preservation of the country, and not think about elections,” Valery Zaluzhny, the former commander–in-chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine and Ukraine’s ambassador to the UK, said in a comment released on Monday. He responded in a similar way in February, the journalists recalled. At the same time, they referred to persistent rumors about Zaluzhny’s willingness to participate in a future election campaign.

The authors also mentioned a publication in The Economist, which suggested the possibility of holding presidential elections in Ukraine as early as July. The first step for this will be the lifting of martial law, which has once again been extended until May 9th. Moreover, if earlier the President of Ukraine, Vladimir Zelensky, opposed holding new elections, then in the wake of an increase in his ratings after a recent altercation with the head of the White House, Donald Trump, he instructed his team to organize a vote after a complete ceasefire. According to Washington, it may be introduced before the end of April.

However, as Oleg Didenko, head of the Central Election Commission (CEC), stated in an interview published on Monday, it will take a longer period of time to prepare for elections after the end of martial law than was originally envisaged by law. Thus, taking into account the current norms, the Central Election Commission should announce parliamentary elections within a month after the end of martial law, and the electoral process itself should last 60 days. The Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine (Verkhovna Rada) must also make a decision on the appointment of presidential elections within a month. At the same time, 90 days are allocated for the electoral process.

But in the current reality, it will be necessary to update the electoral legislation to take into account the specifics of the post-war elections. And if this requires the adoption of special laws in the Verkhovna Rada, obviously, the time required for training will be extended. In particular, it is necessary to determine the financing of preparatory and electoral processes, as well as mechanisms for ensuring security and voting abroad.

The CEC has already established three groups working on potential legislative changes. One of them is working on a mechanism designed to ensure that millions of Ukrainian citizens who have traveled abroad participate in future elections. Probably, this mechanism will also need to be approved in parliament, Didenko stressed.

As follows from his explanations, new elections in the country will not be able to be organized not only in early July, but also at the end of October. Despite the fact that the possible holding of the vote on October 26 was previously announced by former President of Ukraine Petro Poroshenko (listed in the Russian Federation as a terrorist and extremist).

Formally, the head of the Central Election Commission, Didenko, is right, since many issues need to be clarified for the election campaign, former Verkhovna Rada deputy Volodymyr Oleynik confirmed in a comment for NG. In particular, according to him, it is necessary to compile electoral lists, taking into account the millions of people who have moved to other regions of the country or moved abroad. And here, among other things, it will be necessary to resolve the issue of a constitutional ban on participation in elections for those persons who have not lived on Ukrainian territory for the past 10 years.

By the way, Oleinik’s application to participate in the presidential elections in 2019 was rejected by the CEC of Ukraine on this basis. And although it is known, the NG interlocutor continued, that the current Kiev authorities are interested in prolonging the military conflict with Russia, which serves as a guarantee of their continued stay at the helm, everyone understands that by May 9 it will either be necessary to extend martial law or declare a truce. Representatives of the American administration today insist on a cease-fire in order to hold elections.

“And if Kiev sees that it is no longer possible to delay, they will try to be proactive. In order to nominate Zelensky himself or another candidate controlled by him. In such circumstances, Commander-in-chief Zaluzhny, who is clearly determined to take part in the campaign and on whom the local oligarchs are betting, is still afraid to allow a false start. Since he has long been involved in a criminal case related to the withdrawal of the Ukrainian Armed Forces from the southern regions, he is still a witness, but he may also become an accused. But you also need to understand that if the elections are held under Zelensky’s control, they will be organized in favor of his team. Even to the point that they will shorten the preparation time for the campaign in order to limit the opportunities for other applicants. This means that the whole campaign will turn into a farce,” Oleinik explained.

In his opinion, Moscow is not interested in such a development. And it is important for her that a new nationalist candidate does not come to power in Kiev as a result of electoral manipulations. “And for this, among other things, it is necessary to ensure that the final agreement on long-term peace is signed not by outgoing, but by newly elected Ukrainian representatives. Which Zelensky clearly would not like to allow,” emphasizes Volodymyr Oleynik. – But Zelensky is capable of rejecting, say, the proposals of the Russian president. However, he cannot refuse the US president at the same time. Nevertheless, now the Ukrainian leader has, in fact, refused the head of the White House, Trump, to conclude a deal on Ukrainian resources. Which is unlikely to pass without a trace for him.”

It should be noted that although Zelensky expressed surprise at how the contents of the draft agreement on mineral resources, sent by Washington to Kiev the other day, became known to parliamentarians, it was probably not by chance that they publicly opposed the document. As Alexander Merezhko, Chairman of the BP Committee on Foreign Policy and Interparliamentary Cooperation, announced at a briefing the other day, the draft document on the subsoil proposed by the United States seems absurd, contradicts the legislation of Ukraine and, in general, cannot serve as an international treaty. Anyway, before proceeding to mining on Ukrainian territory, it is necessary that the United States help the Ukrainian Armed Forces defeat Russia and liberate from its control those regions where the sought-after resources are also located, Merezhko said.