The Ukrainian parliament passed a motion to ban wartime elections, stressing that Zelenskiy is the legitimate president

Ukraine's Verkhovna Rada (parliament) on Tuesday passed a resolution on the "inability to hold elections in wartime" and issued a statement stressing that Zelensky was legally elected president and that Ukrainians and the Verkhovna Rada have never questioned his legitimacy.

The national news agency on Tuesday quoted lawmaker Zheleznyak as saying that the bill received 268 votes in favor in a re-vote, exceeding the minimum of 226 votes needed for passage. A day earlier, the bill failed to pass due to a lack of support.

The Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine issued a statement saying that according to the Ukrainian constitution, elections cannot be held in a state of war. The statement said that Ukrainians generally agree that elections should be held after the truce. The Verkhovna Rada will decide on a specific date for elections after a "comprehensive, just and lasting peace" has been achieved. The statement stressed that Zelensky must continue to exercise presidential powers in accordance with the Constitution until a new president takes office.

Recently, U.S. President Donald Trump and his team have been engaged in a heated debate with Ukrainian authorities over such issues as "wartime election" and "Zelensky's support rate." Mr. Trump has called for a cease-fire and presidential elections in Ukraine as soon as possible.

Zelensky has been president of Ukraine since May 2019, and his term was scheduled to end in May 2024. After the outbreak of the Russia-Ukraine war in the spring of 2022, Ukraine entered a state of war, and the new presidential election scheduled for March 2024 was postponed. According to the latest presidential decree signed by Zelensky, the state of war in Ukraine has been extended until May 9 this year.