Putin pledges to halt bombing on condition that Ukraine holds elections

Russian President Vladimir Putin his willingness to order his forces to halt long-range missile attacks and drone strikes on a specific day—election day—provided that Kyiv agrees to hold the presidential vote. This offer comes amid mounting international pressure, including demands from Washington and Moscow, for elections to renew political legitimacy in Ukraine.

Putin said during a televised press conference: "We are ready to consider ensuring security during the elections in Ukraine. At the very least, refraining from carrying out strikes deep inside Ukrainian territory on election day," noting that the ball is now in the Ukrainian leadership's court to take a step towards the ballot boxes.

The legitimacy crisis and the postponed elections

The Russian president's remarks come amid a complex political situation in Ukraine. Constitutionally, President Volodymyr Zelensky's term officially ended last May, but elections have not been held due to martial law imposed in the country since the start of the full-scale Russian invasion in February 2022. Moscow is exploiting this situation to question the legitimacy of the current government in Kyiv, while the West sees the need to maintain internal stability in Ukraine, despite growing calls from the United States for a political solution to the crisis.

Observers believe that Putin’s offer has strategic dimensions aimed at embarrassing the Ukrainian leadership in front of the international community, and portraying Moscow as the party open to political solutions, despite the continuation of fierce military operations on the ground.

Field escalation in the Mediterranean

Despite talk of a conditional ceasefire, the fighting continues to escalate and take an unconventional turn. On Friday, a source in the Ukrainian Security Service a significant development in the course of operations: Kyiv launched its first-ever drone targeting a Russian oil tanker in the neutral waters of the Mediterranean Sea.

The source explained that the operation targeted the tanker "Kandil," belonging to what is known as the Russian "ghost fleet," a fleet used by Moscow to circumvent Western sanctions imposed on its oil exports. This attack indicates an expansion of the conflict to include international shipping lanes far from the immediate front lines, reflecting Ukraine's determination to target the economic resources that fund the Russian military machine.

This discrepancy between the Kremlin's conditional political offers and Kyiv's qualitative military escalation confirms that the road to ending the war is still long and complicated, and that the elections issue may be just another bargaining chip in the international power struggle.