As ceasefire talks loom, most Ukrainians oppose elections without full peace deal with Russia

The majority of Ukrainians, 71%, do not support holding elections before a full peace deal, even in the case of a ceasefire and security guarantees, according to a poll published by the Kyiv International Institute of Sociology (KIIS) on May 14.

The institute conducted the survey ahead of potential ceasefire talks between Russia and Ukraine in Turkey.

President Volodymyr Zelensky invited Russian President Vladimir Putin to meet in Turkey on May 15 to launch the first direct negotiations between Kyiv and Moscow since 2022, though the Kremlin has not revealed whether the Russian leader would attend himself.

According to the survey, most of the respondents believe that elections must be held only after a peace agreement and a complete end to the war.

Some 25% of Ukrainians say that elections should be held already after a potential ceasefire or even immediately. This figure has increased by 6% since March 2025.

In the meantime, the number of respondents who believe that elections should be held only after the war is completely over has decreased from 78% to 71%.

Kyiv and its partners have called upon Russia to agree to an unconditional 30-day ceasefire starting on May 12 – a proposal Moscow has ignored.

The majority of respondents across all Ukrainian regions spoke out against holding elections before a peace deal, though the western regions had the highest number of opponents. The poll was conducted between May 2 and May 12 among 1,010 citizens over 18 years of age living in the territories controlled by Ukraine.

Russian propaganda has widely used the issue of elections in Ukraine to discredit the Ukrainian leadership. Mocow has claimed that Zelensky is no longer a legitimate president, as his first term was originally meant to end on May 20, 2024.

Russia's full-scale invasion and the subsequent declaration of martial law in Ukraine meant elections have been impossible to hold, and Zelensky's term has been extended, something constitutional lawyers say is allowed under Ukrainian law.

Ukraine's parliament, the Verkhovna Rada, passed a resolution on Feb. 25 to hold elections after "a comprehensive, just, and sustainable peace is secured" in the country.