‘Ukraine must hold new elections. It‘s not coming from Russia, it’s coming from me‘. With this statement, the President of the United States brings the Ukrainian issue back into the spotlight, backed, moreover, by Elon Musk, his main backer, who on X reiterates: ‘If we are defending democracy, then there must be democracy‘. A statement that, at first glance, might appear to be an appeal to democratic principles. But behind this rhetoric lies in reality the American administration’s overt complacency for the interests of the Kremlin and Vladimir Putin.

Democracy is not a theatre, but a context

Anyone with a modicum of political knowledge, and who only tries to write and speak about things he or she is informed about, knows that democracy is not just a matter of stuffing a ballot paper into a ballot box. If that were the case, we could say that there is also democracy in Russia, where there are districts where Putin even polls 105 per cent of the valid votes, or in North Korea, where sham elections are held with single candidates in every constituency. Democracy is a complex system based on the rule of law, separation of powers and solid institutions: it is within this protective enclosure and a genuinely free and plural ecosystem that voting takes place.

Ukraine is no exception. Its Constitution (like that of many western countries, including Italy) states that, in the event of war, elections can be postponed for six months, with possible extensions voted by parliament. A measure that has so far always been adopted and repeated with the consent of the opposition, which is aware that a country under attack cannot guarantee a free and fair electoral process. For those who would like to learn more about how, despite the suspension of voting and an ongoing brutal war, Ukraine is steadily strengthening its democracy (also in order to fulfil the criteria for accession to the European Union, to which it is now a candidate), we recommend reading this article in the Journal of Democracy.

The Kremlin’s dirty game

How can one vote in a country devastated by war? How can we guarantee the right to vote to soldiers at the front? How can millions of refugees abroad be allowed to vote? What would be the status of Ukrainian citizens in the occupied territories, where Moscow imposes its propaganda by force and violence? Again, could the many Ukrainian prisoners in Russian jails vote?

To call for elections today is to ignore all this and, above all, to provide Russia with a perfect weapon to delegitimise the current Ukrainian leadership and the institutions of the Ukrainian Republic in general. It is no coincidence that the Kremlin has repeatedly spoken of the need for a “change of leadership” in Kyiv. The risk is that of a manipulated, contested, flawed election that would give Moscow an excuse to push Kyiv towards a weak, malleable, if not complicit government.

A country more united than the Trumpian narrative

While Donald Trump tries to undermine Zelensky by spreading falsehoods about a fictitious‘popular approval rate of 4 per cent‘, which is not reflected in any demographic survey (the popularity of the current president has certainly dropped, but remains at around 50 per cent of respondents), Volodymyr Vyatrovich deputy of the opposition party ‘European Solidarity’, emphasised the need for a ‘government of national salvation, which must unite all Ukrainian forces, reject accusations of the Ukrainian government’s lack of legitimacy abroad, and restore trust internally‘. A clear message: the priority even for the opposition is not a symbolic vote, but the cohesion of the country in the face of the Russian invasion.

Toxic propaganda and bad faith

Those who truly believe in democracy know that elections must take place under conditions of peace and security. Post-war European countries could only vote after rebuilding their institutions and ensuring stability. Ukraine deserves the same treatment.

Alexis de Tocqueville wrote that America is great because it is ‘good’. He added that if America stopped being good, it would also stop being great. Pushing for elections in Ukraine today is not a sign of ‘goodness’ or respect for democracy: it is a move in bad faith, which only serves Moscow’s interests.

Those who truly support democracy in Ukraine must fight for a just peace. Only then can one talk about elections. To demand a vote now is a move to destabilise Kyiv and betray those values that, in words, one claims to want to defend. Demanding elections in Ukraine is just submission to Putin.