Zelenskyy: No elections will be held in territories not under Ukrainian control

Regarding Russian President Vladimir Putin's call for elections to be held in Ukraine, Zelenskyy said,it is not up to Putin to decide when and howelections will be held in Ukraine.He stated,"Noelectionswill be held in territories that are not underUkrainian control."

Portuguese Prime Minister Luis Montenegro made his first official visit to Ukraine to meet with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. During their meeting, Montenegro and Zelenskyy discussed the initial first, to commemorate the Ukrainians who lost their lives in the Russia-Ukraine War,they visited the Wall of Remembrance in thecapital, Kyiv. The leaders,at the official ceremony held there, laid wreaths at the walland then held a bilateralmeeting.The leadersheld arealized. Bregional and global developments, as well as bilateral trade issues between the two countries, the leaders signed a document regarding cooperation in the production of unmanned surface vehicles (USVs) between Ukraine and Portugal. In the production of, they signed a cooperation document. Zelenskyy, dFollowing themeeting, he shared a statement on his social media account regarding the developments, stating, "This is currently one of the most promising areas of our defense efforts. It is important to achieve results. The "Ukraine'sprogram that allows us to purchase American weaponsis I am grateful to Portugal for its contributions to the development of thePriority Needs List (PURL).Portugal alsosupported the joint European decisionthat provides a concrete financial security guaranteeof 90 billion euros for Ukrainefor the coming years," he stated.

"How an election will beconductedin Ukraine is not up to Putin"

The Ukrainian leaderstatedin his remarks that Russian President Vladimir Putin's comments on holding anelection inUkraine areaddressing the callfor, "When and how an election will be held in Ukraine isnot upto Putin. These elections are for the Ukrainian people tis for them. They cannot influence anything, including the results. The Ukrainian people will vote in their country and in theregions under our control.Here, we can be certain of fair and transparent elections.The issue of voting abroad is alsoa matter ofis out of the question. However, in regions not under Ukraine's control, no elections will be held because it is obvious how the elections would take place, just as Russia always does," he said.

"The US knows how it can help us"

Zelenskyy, repointing out that security measuresmust be ensured during elections, stating, "Elections depend on two elements: security and legislation.Somethingmust be done regarding security, this is the most important situation. Our army, which defends our country, must be able to vote. very important. Every citizen'sright to vote is absolute. We spoke with our U.S. partners and they brought this issueup. The fact that they are mentioning thismeans they know howthey can help us regarding a secure election. This could be a ceasefire, the war could be ended, or simply aceasefire could be implemented during the election period.This is apossibility,made thestatement.

"Agreements are not just about signing papers"

The Ukrainian President, regarding the meeting to be held in the US with the participation of US President Donald Trump's Special Envoy to the Middle East Steve Witkoff and Putin's Special Envoy Kirill Dmitriev,stated that it wouldberealized.Prior to the meeting, the parties made statements regarding the scope of a potential peace agreement between them. Zelenskyy stated, "Peace is better than war, but not at any price, because we are currently there." We have paid a very high price. For us, a fair and strong agreement that cannot be undermined by Putin'sother desires or by 'another Putin' iscrucial.Therefore, in my view, agreementsare not just about signing papers. We need to know the details of what will happen if the Russians launch another war through aggression. We must know how the Americans, the Europeans, and our partners will react.We need to knowwhat kind of deterrent package Ukraine will have, how our army will be equipped, and how muchit will be tripartite, we must knowwhat kind of reserves we will have, what we canrely on, and whichsanction packages will be simultaneously applied to the aggressor. The agreement must be fair and effective for Ukraine" he stated.he used the expressions..

News Source: 12punto