President Volodymyr Zelenskyy expressed the conditions for holding elections in Ukraine, responding to a statement by US Congressman Lindsey Graham about the need to organize elections in a time of war.
In an interview with Natalia Moseychuk, Zelenskyy emphasized that holding elections in normal times requires significant financial support.
"I told him (Graham): "Are you ready to give us 5 billion? Because I am not a person who deals with 'paving stones'. And it seems to me that this is the amount needed to hold elections in normal times, and in wartime I don't know what kind of amount it is," the head of state said.
He noted that the United States and Europe could provide such a amount, but he did not agree to hold elections on credit or at the expense of the armed forces.
"I will not hold elections on credit. I will not take money from the armed forces and give it to the elections either," Zelenskyy emphasized.
The President also said that observers should be in the trenches, and all 7 million Ukrainian refugees abroad should be able to vote.
Zelensky also emphasized: "I asked how to organize the elections so that the military at the front and refugees abroad could vote, and I have not yet received an answer."
As we reported earlier, US Senator from the Republican Party Lindsey Graham expressed his view on the upcoming elections in Ukraine during a press conference in Kyiv, Radio Liberty reports. He emphasized that elections should be held in Ukraine next year and called on the country's president to continue making progress towards democracy, even in the face of the Russian invasion.
