Ukrainian MP and leader of the "European Solidarity" party Petro Poroshenko states that electoral processes in Ukraine during the war destroy internal unity and are beneficial only to the leadership of the Russian Federation, the party's website reported, citing a statement by Poroshenko.
"Do you know what the elections in Ukraine mean now? Deadly unity. Because elections are always a struggle. And there can be no unity in elections. Every democracy knows this," he noted during a meeting with diplomats, politicians and experts at the French Institute of International Relations.
He stressed that neither he nor current President Volodymyr Zelensky would win in such a situation.
"Who would win these elections? The only person is (Russian President Vladimir) Putin. He already has a well-thought-out disinformation campaign. He has a fifth column. And he will never back down now, in a time of war, if there are elections, he will simply use the moment. This is unacceptable," Poroshenko stressed.
According to him, Ukraine must win the war, and the elections
meet the general criteria for democracy and freedom.
"Now I am against the elections," the Ukrainian president noted in the period 2014-2019 and added that "he dreams of winning the elections" as a candidate for MEPs from Ukraine when Ukraine becomes a member of the European Union.
"We will think about other elections in the future", Poroshenko concluded.
The Ukrainian president said in early January that it was impossible to hold elections in Ukraine while the war was ongoing, or the parliament would have to adopt a new law.
He added that it was necessary to create an infrastructure for voting for 8.5 million Ukrainians who had gone abroad.
Furthermore, the Ukrainian president recalled that millions of people are in the territories occupied by Russia.
"Everyone in Ukraine understands that elections cannot be organized until the war is over or the legislation needs to be changed. I believe that elections will be held immediately after the end of the state of emergency. "This is according to the current law, otherwise the people's representatives must gather and change the legislation, which will be very difficult because society is against it", he said.
Zelensky assessed that political debates in wartime are "harmful to Ukraine".