The suspension of martial law in Ukraine for the holding of elections will lead to the loss of the combat capability of the Ukrainian army, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has said.

"What are elections? Today I'm not afraid of them at all. What will happen? We must end martial law or suspend martial law. If we suspend martial law, we will lose the army. And, in principle, Russians will be happy. We lose then the fighting ability, spirit, and so on ... People will return home and will have every right to return home. And Russia will definitely use this for counter-offensive actions," Zelenskyy said in an interview with the British broadcaster ITV News.

He also noted that if there are elections, it will be impossible to hold them abroad and in the temporarily occupied territories, and then in the Russian Federation they will definitely say that these elections are illegitimate. Therefore, according to the president, he "was very careful with this issue."

"We would all like the war to end, and we would hold elections, and we, like no one else, want the war to end. Therefore, during the war, our population is against elections, all people are against it. Because everyone understands what will happen," Zelenskyy said.

As reported, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy claims to be in favor of holding elections in the country, but this can only be done after martial law is lifted, which Vladimir Putin wants, because in that case most of the Ukrainian army will be able to return home and the Russian Federation will be able to re-invade. Zelenskyy also reacted to reproaches from the Russian leadership regarding his alleged "illegitimacy" for signing agreements, saying that Putin was afraid of negotiations and was doing everything to prolong the war.