US expects presidential elections in Ukraine by May 15

Ukraine has begun planning presidential elections alongside a referendum on any peace deal with Russia, after the Trump administration pressed Kyiv to hold both votes by May 15 or risk losing proposed US security guarantees, Report informs referring to Financial Times.

The move, according to Ukrainian and Western officials and others familiar with the matter, comes amid intense pressure on Kyiv by the White House to wrap up peace negotiations between Ukraine and Russia in the spring.

The plan aligns with a US push, outlined by Volodymyr Zelenskyy to reporters last Friday, to have all documents signed to bring Europe's largest conflict since the second world war to an end by June.

"They say that they want to do everything by June . . . so that the war ends," Ukraine's president told reporters, citing the White House's desire to shift its focus to the US midterm elections in November.

"And they want a clear schedule."

Holding an election would mark a dramatic political pivot for a president who has repeatedly argued that such votes are impossible while the country remains under martial law, millions of Ukrainians are displaced and about 20 percent of the country is under Russian occupation.

According to Ukrainian and European officials involved in the planning as well as others briefed on the matter, Zelenskyy intends to announce the plan for presidential elections and a referendum on February 24, the fourth anniversary of Russia's full-scale invasion.

"The Ukrainians have this hard idea that it all needs to be bundled with Zelenskyy's re-election," said one western official familiar with the matter. Zelenskyy's office did not respond to a request for comment. The US embassy in Kyiv declined to comment.