(Adnkronos) – Ukraine’s parliament and voters must approve any peace accord with Russia, although any potential deal to end the four-year-old war would be “welcome”, Italy’s foreign minister Antonio told Sky Tg24 on Wednesday.
“Clearly, in the event of an agreement between Russia and Ukraine (president Volodymyr) Zelensky will have to submit it to parliament and to a referendum,” Tajani said.
“He (Zelensky) cannot do everything under his own steam; he will have to ask his citizens for their opinion,” Tajani added.
“First, an accord must be reached, however. Until there is a deal, it is difficult to bring millions of people in Ukraine to the polls, but an agreement is welcome, and peace is welcome,” he said.
Tajani’s comments came after the Financial Times reported that Zelensky has begun planning to hold presidential polls alongside a national referendum on a possible peace agreement with Russia.
According to the Financial Times, which cited Ukrainian and European officials familiar with the matter, Zelensky intends to announce his plans for the dual vote on 24 February – the fourth anniversary of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
Preparations are underway after US president Donald Trump’s administration put pressure on Zelensky to held both votes by 15 May or risk losing security guarantees, the Financial Times reported.
Ukraine remains under martial law, which currently bans national elections, and the parliament would introduce changes to current legislation in March-April to allow wartime voting, according to the Financial Times.
