Zelenskyy ‘ready’ to exit office if war ends, open to elections in ceasefire

President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has suggested he is ready to step down from office once Russia’s war on Ukraine ends.

During an interview with Axios Wednesday, the Ukrainian leader also maintained his primary focus remains achieving peace rather than securing another term.

“My goal is to finish the war,” Zelenskyy told Barak Ravid on The Axios Show following his address to the United Nations General Assembly in New York and before heading back to Kyiv.

When pressed on if Ukraine would hold elections during a ceasefire, Zelenskyy was firm.

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Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy answers questions during an exclusive appearance on Fox News’ “Special Report” with Bret Baier. (Fox News)

“So do you commit that if tomorrow, President Putin agrees for a ceasefire of three months, six months, whatever you will push forward to go for elections in Ukraine?” Ravid asked. “Yes,” Zelenskyy responded.

When asked whether he envisioned leading Ukraine in peacetime, Zelenskyy again suggested his intent to step aside once the war is won. 

“If we will finish war with Russia? Yes,” Zelenskyy said, before clarifying that elections were not his personal ambition. 

“It’s not my goal, elections,” he explained. “I want it very much, in a very difficult period of time, to be with my country, help my country. Yes, that is what I wanted. My goal is to finish the war,” he stated.

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Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy during the Ukraine Recovery Conference 2025 at Roma Convention Center La Nuvola, on July 10, 2025. (Antonio Masiello/Getty Image)

The Ukrainian leader’s remarks come as his country is under martial law, imposed since Russia’s full-scale invasion started in February 2022.  

Under martial law, elections can’t be held.

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Zelenskyy, first elected in 2019 in a landslide, would have seen his five-year term end in May 2024 if the war with Russia had not started. 

Now Zelenskyy has been in office for over six year which is beyond his original mandate. 

Fox News Digital has reached out to Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s office for comment.