Is Zelensky becoming a dictator?

The Kyiv Independent writes that, as of January 2025, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has rejected once again the possibility of elections in his country.

According to German state news agency DW, Ukraine was meant to have presidential elections back in March or April 2024, concluding Zelensky’s five-year term on May 20.

Pictured: Zelensky voting back in July 2019

However, under martial law, the Ukrainian legislature opted to postpone presidential and parliamentary elections, letting Zelensky run the country unopposed until the end of the ongoing invasion from Russia.

When asked about the possibility of elections in early 2024, the Ukrainian President dismissed such talk as “part of the Russian Federation’s Program”, DW writes.

Zelensky also called any questions about his legitimacy as President of Ukraine as “hostile narrative”.

According to The Kyiv Independent, Russian President Vladimir Putin has denounced Zelensky’s rule under martial law as “illegitimate”.

According to Putin, and as cited by The Kyiv Independent, the presidential powers should pass to Ruslan Stefanchuk, the head of the Ukrainian Parliament. The Zelensky government has called this a distortion of the country's constitution.

DW explains that the President of Ukraine does not lose their powers automatically after the end of the five-year term. Instead, these powers are only transferred once a new Head of State is officially inaugurated.

The BBC affirms that having elections amid the ongoing war would be a logistic nightmare: Russia still occupies a fifth of the country, millions of Ukrainians have fled the conflict, plus thousands of soldiers are fighting in the front.

According to the BBC, Zelensky still enjoys a high approval rate among the Ukrainian population, although it has been slipping in the past year. There’s still the chance of a second term for the current Ukrainian leader.

The Kyiv Independent highlights that, in an interview released on January 2, the Ukrainian President has promised to call for elections immediately after the war cools down, Kyiv keeps a strong military and have secured security guarantees.

Exactly how long it will take for Ukraine to fulfill all of these goals, or actually manages outright peace, is nearly impossible to say.

However, many believe that 2025 could be the beginning of the end to the war that started in February 2022, when Russia invaded Ukraine.

The Kyiv Independent writes that the return of Donald Trump to the White House, and his promise to bring Putin and Zelensky into negotiations, could define the future of Ukraine.

Trump has promised to end the war in Ukraine in 24 hours, while also expressing admiration towards Putin in the past.

How Ukraine manages to have peace, either by defeating the Russian troops or having it imposed by the Kremlin, will define the future of Volodymyr Zelensky and his country.

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