Zelenskyy in Warsaw: Ukraine can hold elections after a full ceasefire

Volodymyr Zelenskyy addressed the Warsaw Security Forum by video link after it opened in the Polish capital on October 12. He then answered questions about possible elections in Ukraine and the reported “energy truce” between Russia and Ukraine.

Zelenskyy said elections could be held after a full ceasefire. He said that if the United States reached an agreement with Russia to halt the fighting, he would be ready to seek a difficult solution and amend Ukrainian legislation.

The president also pointed to the difficulty of organizing voting during a full-scale war, including for nearly one million Ukrainian service members.

Kyiv says no truce was agreed

Zelenskyy said Ukraine had repeatedly supported halting attacks on energy infrastructure but did not consider the current arrangement finalized. Kyiv, he said, learned about it from media reports and had not negotiated the issue.

On October 11, Donald Trump said Russia and Ukraine had supposedly agreed to an “energy truce.” Axios, citing White House officials, reported that the proposal involved ending reciprocal strikes on oil refineries.

Zelenskyy said the terms must be reciprocal: Russia must stop attacks on Ukraine’s energy system, critical infrastructure and civilians if Ukraine stops striking Russian refineries. Ukraine’s only refinery, in Kremenchuk, has been repeatedly attacked by Russia and is not operating at full capacity.

Tusk says Poland is preparing

Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk said Poland was preparing for different scenarios and had no illusions about Russia’s intentions in Ukraine and Europe. He said Russia responded to Trump’s arrangement on Russian diesel supplies with strikes on Ukraine’s energy infrastructure.

“Russia is not interested in a truce; it is interested in domination,” Tusk said. Polish political scientist and civic activist Katarzyna Pisarska opened the forum by calling for support for Ukraine with everything it needs.

Zelenskyy mentions Russian bots

The president also discussed Russia’s social-media bot network. He linked an apparent reduction in such accounts to Ukrainian drone strikes on data centers operated by the Russian company Yandex, but the source provides no independent confirmation of that connection.