ISTANBUL

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has reaffirmed his openness to holding elections but said they remain impossible during wartime due to legal and logistical challenges.

"As regards my legitimacy, I was elected by 73% of my population, and I have always said that I am open to any elections," Zelenskyy said in an interview with British journalist Piers Morgan.

"During the war, there can be no elections. The legislation has to be changed, the Constitution as well. There are big challenges, not just legal but also human challenges," he said.

Zelenskyy pointed to concerns over how military personnel, citizens in Russian-occupied territories, and millions of displaced Ukrainians abroad could participate in a vote.

"How can our military vote? How can people in occupied territories express their will? How will the 8 million Ukrainians who fled the war vote?" he asked. "Undoubtedly, the war will end, and when martial law is lifted, elections will be called. That is necessary because we are defending democracy."

He warned that lifting martial law prematurely would expose Ukraine to new security threats.

"If we end martial law now, that is exactly what (Russian President Vladimir) Putin wants. It would mean that most of our army would return home to their families, leaving us unprotected," Zelenskyy said, adding that Ukraine needed security guarantees before any election could be held.

On the ongoing war, he rejected the idea of ceding any land to Russia.

"We cannot return all our territories at this moment. We are rational people, and we cannot sacrifice millions of lives for an uncertain result," he said.

"At the same time, we cannot violate the oath we made to those who died for us in this war. We cannot violate the Constitution, and we cannot recognize the occupied territories as Russian. They are temporarily occupied, and we will never accept their loss."