A little more than a year after the end of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky's first five-year term, the United States and Russia agree that Ukrainians must go to the polls.

Russia has insisted it will not sign a peace deal until Ukraine agrees to hold elections, while US President Donald Trump suggested yesterday that elections in Ukraine would be a condition for peace.

"We have a situation where there has been no election in Ukraine, where we have a state of emergency, actually a state of emergency in Ukraine, where the leader in Ukraine, I mean, I hate to say this, but he only has four percent approval," Trump said.

"If Ukraine wants a seat at the table, shouldn't people say it's been a long time since they had elections? That's not Russia's business, that's something that comes from me and comes from many other countries as well," he said.

Zelensky's term was due to end in May last year, and elections were initially scheduled for April 2024. But his aides said the election would not be held until six months after the end of the state of emergency, in accordance with the Ukrainian constitution, which prohibits holding elections during a state of emergency.

Poll: 52% of respondents trust Zelensky

Although Trump says Zelensky has only four percent support among voters, recent polls show that, despite the decline, Zelensky still has the support of more than half of the population.

A recent survey of Kiev International Institute of Sociology shows that in December last year, 52% of Ukrainians said they trust Zelensky. The survey was conducted on a sample of 2000 people, in the territory under the control of the Ukrainian authorities. Citizens were asked two versions of the question.

Zelensky is trusted more by residents in the west of the country, and least by residents in the east, the poll shows.

Supporters of Ukraine say that post-war elections would be a far better option and that the elections offer Russia an opportunity to sow chaos.

"The only person who benefits from elections before reaching a lasting peace agreement is Putin," said Andrew D'Anieri, a fellow at the Atlantic Council's Eurasian Center.

"The Kremlin loves elections, not in its own country, but in other places, because they offer the opportunity to destabilize things," D'Anieri told Fox News.

The constitution prohibits elections during a state of emergency.

Former Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko also claimed that Ukrainian authorities would hold elections before the end of the year.

“Write it down – October 26 of this year,” he said in a recent interview.

But David Arakhamia, parliamentary leader of Zelensky's Servant of the People party, denied Poroshenko's claims in a post on Telegram.

"During a state of emergency, it is impossible to hold elections... The leaders of all parties have agreed that elections will not be held for at least six months after the end of the state of emergency," Arahamiya said.

Poroshenko, Ukrainian president from 2014 to 2019, who made his fortune in the confectionery business, lost the race for a second term to Zelensky.

Everything depends on the terms of the truce.

"Zelensky's chances of winning the election depend on the exact terms of the ceasefire, that is, whether they will be publicly perceived as a "victory," an "honest draw," or a "defeat," said Ivan Gomza, a professor of public policy at the Kyiv School of Economics.

"The cessation of hostilities is unlikely to happen in 2025. Moreover, elections require preparations and are unlikely to happen until at least 2026," he said.

Zelensky's main opponent is expected to be Valery Zaluzhny, a four-star general and current ambassador to the United Kingdom. Zelensky fired Zaluzhny from his position as head of the armed forces last year in a major – and politically unpopular – reversal. Zaluzhny had claimed that the war with Russia had reached a stalemate by the end of 2023, the Croatian newspaper writes. Index.hr.

Russia, while insisting on elections as part of the negotiations, is unlikely to get a more favorable, pro-Russian Ukrainian government in any election outcome.

"All the leading candidates in the election will be pro-Western, pro-European candidates who want to defend the country from Russia and probably agree on most issues, including foreign affairs and defense, but have their own internal political issues on which they differ," D'Anieri said.

General Zaluzhny as the strongest opponent

"The only people who come close to Zelensky in the polls are people like General Zaluzhny, with really established, patriotic credentials in Ukraine," said Henry Hale, a professor at George Washington University who specializes in public opinion in Ukraine.

"None of the pro-Russian forces actually have much support," he said.

Hale predicted that if the elections were held before the signing of a peace agreement, it would increase Zelensky's chances of re-election.

“Although there are many people in Ukraine who don’t think he’s done a good job managing the war effort, there is still strong pressure among the population to rally support around him as a symbol of resistance. Many people who are actually critical of him would still vote for him, just to avoid risking a change of horse before the end of the race,” Hale continued.

"If you reach a peace agreement that contains credible security guarantees, then in the elections you could see a really strong competition. And I think at that point it becomes very open to the question of whether Zelensky wins or not," Hale adds.