Trump calls Zelenskyy a ‘dictator’: Are his claims accurate? Why hasn’t Ukraine held elections?

Since coming to power, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, the Ukrainian president, has been called many a name: comedian, hero and much more. But on Wednesday, US President Donald Trump called the Ukrainian leader a “dictator”, deepening the rift between the two leaders.

The US president, who is known not to mince his words, wrote on his social media platform, “ A dictator without elections, Zelenskyy better move fast or he is not going to have a country left.”

This attack came after Trump earlier suggested that Ukraine had started the war and expressed interest in forcing elections in Ukraine. Speaking after the US and Russia held Ukraine war peace talks, the US president said, “When they want a seat at the table, you could say the people have to, wouldn’t the people of Ukraine have to say, like, ‘You know, it’s been a long time since we’ve had an election’.”

“We have a situation where we haven’t had elections in Ukraine, where we have martial law in Ukraine, where the leader in Ukraine — I mean I hate to say it, but he’s down at four per cent approval rating — and the country’s been blown to smithereens,” said Trump.

But is there any truth to Trump calling Zelenskyy a ‘dictator’? Let’s find out.

When was the last election in Ukraine?

Running for the ‘Servant of the People’ party, Zelenskyy stormed to power in Ukraine in 2019 after securing a decisive victory, winning by the largest second-round margin the country has ever seen. His opponent, Petro Poroshenko, was running for re-election having served as Ukraine’s fifth president.

Zelenskyy’s first term was to end in May 2024. However, as the country was placed under martial law following the 2022 Russian invasion, elections were suspended, extending Zelenskyy’s term in office indefinitely.

But what’s the issue in holding an election now in Ukraine?

The biggest hurdle in holding an election right now in the war-ravaged country is martial law. For Ukraine to hold a presidential poll, martial law would need to be lifted. As per Ukrainian law, this has to be lifted first for any election to be held. Zelenskyy recently extended martial law and mobilisation until May 9, 2025.

In fact, Ukraine’s parliament and the public have shown very little interest in holding elections right now. Last November, all parties in Ukraine’s parliament supported deferring elections until the war ends and Zelenskyy vowed to hold a new election once the conflict ends.

Similarly, the public of Ukraine believes that holding elections amid hostilities is unthinkable. The only exception to this is Petro Poroshenko, the former president whom Zelenskyy defeated in 2019.

But martial law is only one of the reasons for elections not being held in Ukraine. The other reason is logistics. About one million Ukrainians are engaged in fighting Russia far from home. Earlier this month Zelenskyy said: “If we suspend martial law we will lose the army, and voting without the military is dishonest.”

Additionally, millions more are displaced from their homes, both within Ukraine and abroad. And up to six million more live in the territories that Russia has occupied since 2014 and again from 2022.

Another problem is the locations where a vote will be held. Electoral infrastructure, such as schools, has been destroyed in many areas of Ukraine-controlled territory due to Russian attacks. As Olha Aivazovska, head of the election watchdog Opora, told Kyiv Independent that it could take up to a year to restore the electoral infrastructure and adopt a separate law to hold the post-war elections following the ceasefire.

Ruslan Stefanchuk, the speaker of Ukraine’s parliament, said Ukraine was not “giving up” on elections. “Inventing ‘democracy’ under shelling is not democracy, but a spectacle in which the main beneficiary is in the Kremlin. Ukraine needs bullets, not ballots,” he wrote on his Facebook page.

So, who’s asking for an election in Ukraine?

The answer is simple — Russia and now, Donald Trump. Russian President Vladimir Putin has raised questions about Zelenskyy’s legitimacy as Ukraine’s leader since his term expired last year. And this was once again raised during the US-Russia talks in Saudi Arabia when Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said that Putin is willing to hold talks with Zelenskyy, but “legal aspects related to his legitimacy” must be considered.

German commentator Winfried Schneider-Deters, a Ukraine expert, told Deutsche Welle that he isn’t surprised with Moscow’s stance. “Of course, the Russians are demanding and promoting this. They want to create unrest, to create division among the population during an election campaign.”

While, this was only a Russian demand so far, on Tuesday, the US president also echoed similar demands. He told reporters that he wanted to see elections in Ukraine and questioned Zelenskyy’s approval rating — “I mean, I hate to say it, but he’s down at a four per cent approval rating.”

It’s unclear where Trump has got this number from. A recent survey by the Kyiv International Institute of Sociology (KIIS) published in early February revealed that 57 per cent of Ukrainians trust Zelenskyy.

But why is Trump going hard against Zelenskyy? Many believe it is Trump’s way of getting the war done and dusted — a promise he made during his presidential campaign. Moreover, there’s personal animosity between the two. In 2019, a scandal erupted when it emerged that the US president had attempted to coerce Zelenskyy into investigating Joe Biden and thus potentially damage Biden’s campaign for the 2020 elections. It even became the subject of Trump’s first impeachment by Congress.

Will Zelenskyy win if an election is held now in Ukraine?

It is unclear if Zelenskyy will bend to Trump’s demand, but if an election is to be held in Ukraine, it may favour the incumbent president. At least that’s what the numbers reveal for now.

The most recent survey shows that 57 per cent of Ukrainians trust Zelenskyy. That’s up from 52 per cent in December. In addition, an approval survey conducted from late November to early January found 63 per cent of Ukrainians either approved fully or tended to approve of his actions as president.

Incidentally, Zelenskyy’s polling numbers are slightly better than Trump’s. A poll by Reuters published on February 19, showed that his approval rating stands at 44 per cent.

Speaking on Zelenskyy’s ratings, Onuch, a professor in Comparative and Ukrainian Politics at the University of Manchester, told Newsweek, “The numbers tell us that out of all the civilian politicians that might be potential candidates, he [Zelenskyy] is by far the front-runner. That is an undisputed empirical fact. He remains the most popular politician in Ukraine, and any suggestion otherwise is an attempt to manipulate facts on the ground.”

And Zelenskky, himself, didn’t hold back on Trump’s remarks. He, in turn, accused Trump of succumbing to Russian “ disinformation ”. “Such rhetoric doesn’t help Ukraine — it only helps in bringing Putin out of isolation,” he said.

Moreover, referring to his approval ratings, Zelenskyy said, “If anyone wants to replace me right now — that’s not going to happen.”

With inputs from agencies