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Trump's election demand and Kyiv's martial law bar
Summary
A look back at the days around 20 February 2025, when US pressure for a Ukrainian vote met a legal ban on elections under martial law.
What was the state of play between Washington, Kyiv and Moscow on 20 February 2025? The day came amid a sharp deterioration in relations between the United States and Ukraine, following several days of public statements about how a peace deal might look.
On 18 February 2025, US President Donald Trump called for a new presidential election to be held in Ukraine as part of a peace deal with Russia. The following day, 19 February, he went further, calling Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy a "dictator", saying he had done a "terrible job" and warning that he was "not going to have a country left" soon.
Moscow's reading of the Riyadh talks
Also on 19 February, Russian President Vladimir Putin praised the high-level talks between Russia and the United States in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. He described them as a "first step" towards restoring full diplomatic ties with the United States.
Why an election was not simple
The call for a vote ran into Ukrainian law. Presidential elections had been scheduled for March or April 2024, but none were held, because the law does not allow them while martial law is in effect. Martial law had been in force since 24 February 2022, in response to the full-scale Russian invasion, and has been extended in 90-day intervals with parliament's approval. Later, it was extended for the 20th time, until 31 October 2026.
By 20 February 2025, then, the picture was of a Washington pressing for a Ukrainian ballot as part of a settlement, a Kremlin welcoming bilateral contact, and a legal framework in Kyiv that ruled out a presidential vote for as long as martial law remained in place.
