Kremlin Rejects Zelensky's 60-Day Ceasefire for Ukraine Elections: 'We Want Long-Term Peace'

Photo: Ricardo Stuckert / PR via Wikimedia Commons (Lula Oficial)

Volodymyr Zelensky made Moscow an offer on Sunday: give Ukraine 60 days of total ceasefire, and Kyiv will hold the wartime elections Russia keeps demanding. On Monday, the Kremlin said no.

"Please tell Putin, give us two months, 60 days of total ceasefire, 60 days, and we will organise elections," Zelensky told ABC's This Week, in comments reported by Reuters. The Ukrainian president was responding to mounting pressure from US President Donald Trump, who said on Saturday that Ukraine should get a new president willing to make a deal to end the war — and blamed Zelensky for high US diesel prices.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters Monday that Moscow wanted a long-term peace deal instead of a temporary truce. "In the Kremlin, both President Putin and officials at other levels have repeatedly stated that we do not want a ceasefire," Peskov said. "We want long-term peace and are prepared to do everything possible to achieve it."

Video: WION report on Zelensky's 60-day ceasefire-for-elections proposal.

Russia's counter-offer: cease fire for one day — election day

Moscow didn't leave it entirely empty-handed. According to reporting by Firstpost, Peskov said Putin would be willing to order Russian troops to halt attacks on Ukraine on the day of its presidential election itself — a one-day pause, not 60.

Russia has long pressed Kyiv to hold elections, with Moscow calling Zelensky an "illegitimate" leader. But elections in wartime are prohibited by Ukrainian law. Zelensky's own term formally expired in May 2024, though the constitution allows him to remain in office until a new president is sworn in.

Video: Washington Examiner report on Zelensky's response to Trump's calls for new leadership.

Could Ukraine even hold an election right now?

The proposal faces enormous practical hurdles, as The Hindu noted:

• Ukraine has been under martial law since February 2022; the constitution bars elections while it is in force.
• A nationwide vote would be vulnerable to Russian attacks; roughly a fifth of the country is held by Russia.
• Millions of Ukrainians are displaced abroad, and soldiers are on the front line.
• Ukraine would need security guarantees to allow safe voting.

Zelensky has long said he would need security assurances and changes to wartime law before any vote could happen. His 60-day window was an attempt to put that challenge — and the onus — back on Putin.

Meanwhile: Trump-Zelensky tensions and the 'energy ceasefire' mess

The exchange came amid a confusing weekend. Trump announced on Sunday that Russia and Ukraine had agreed to an "energy ceasefire" — which, as Al Jazeera reported, left Kyiv "horribly surprised." Zelensky said the announcement was "news to him" (Axios) and accused Russia of violating it anyway, citing strikes on energy facilities including a power plant in Kharkiv.

Trump has taken to Truth Social to announce truces before either side confirmed them, and over the weekend he also declared a temporary easing of US sanctions on Russian diesel — a deal Zelensky said would only embolden Moscow. Kyiv told the US to press Russia for a reciprocal halt: no strikes on Ukrainian power infrastructure in exchange for no Ukrainian strikes on Russian refineries.

What this means for Canadians watching

Ottawa is firmly in Kyiv's camp — Zelensky said on X that he discussed the latest developments with Prime Minister Mark Carney, alongside Finland's Alexander Stubb and NATO chief Mark Rutte. For Canadians, the story matters twice over: "Ukraine," "Putin" and "Zelensky" are trending in Canada, and the standoff over elections has become the latest fault line between Washington and Kyiv, with real consequences for NATO unity and global energy prices.

For now, Moscow's answer stands: no 60-day truce, no elections on Zelensky's terms. Whether Trump's growing impatience with Kyiv changes that equation is the question now hanging over every negotiation.

Sources

• Reuters — Kremlin rejects Ukrainian leader's idea of a 60-day ceasefire
• Al Jazeera — Ukraine's Zelenskyy accuses Russia of violating Trump's 'energy ceasefire'
• Firstpost — Kremlin rejects Zelenskyy's 60-day truce plan

Photo: Ricardo Stuckert / PR via Wikimedia Commons (Lula Oficial)