Zelensky: “I will hold elections if Putin calls for a complete ceasefire in 60 days”

(Istanbul = Yonhap News) Correspondent Kim Dong-ho = Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky announced on the 11th (local time) that he would hold elections in Ukraine if Russia agrees to a 60-day ceasefire.

In an interview with ABC, President Zelensky said, "It is up to the Ukrainian people to decide when to vote, how to do it, and who to elect," in response to U.S. President Donald Trump's assertion the previous day that Ukraine needed a "new leader."

“I know that Putin wants to change the Ukrainian president,” Zelenskiy said. “If President Trump wants to change anything through the election, tell Putin to give us a ‘two-month, 60-day total ceasefire.’”

“Then we will organize elections and be ready for the choice of Ukrainians,” he said.

On the 9th, President Trump reached an agreement with Russian President Vladimir Putin to supply Russian diesel to the U.S. and global markets.

There was an interpretation that this was because President Trump tried to stop Ukraine's attack on Russian oil refineries, which caused the rise in diesel prices ahead of the U.S. midterm elections, but Ukraine did not accept his plan.

President Zelensky fiercely criticized this 'transit deal', saying, "It's like a birthday present to Putin," and on the 10th, President Trump openly expressed his dissatisfaction, saying, "Zelensky could have ended this war many times, but he chose not to. Do you know what I propose to Ukraine? It is to have a new leader who can reach an agreement (to end the war)."