Russia has rejected Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy's proposal for a 60-day total ceasefire to allow Ukraine to hold wartime elections, countering instead with an offer to halt strikes for a single day — election day itself, the Kremlin said on Monday, October 12, 2026.
Zelenskyy floated the 60-day plan during an appearance on ABC's This Week on Sunday, responding to growing pressure — including from US President Donald Trump — over Ukraine's wartime suspension of elections. But Moscow dismissed the idea within a day, and a fragile new energy ceasefire announced by Trump was already fraying as both sides traded blame over fresh strikes.
The offers on the table
Zelenskyy said Ukraine could organize presidential elections if Russia agreed to two months of total ceasefire, the window Kyiv says it needs for campaigning and voting. Ukraine's constitution bars elections under martial law, which has been in force since Russia's 2022 invasion, and Russia has repeatedly called Zelenskyy "illegitimate" for not holding a vote.
"Please tell Putin, give us two months, 60 days of total ceasefire, 60 days, and we will organise elections." — Volodymyr Zelenskyy, ABC's This Week, October 11, 2026
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov rejected the plan on Monday, saying Moscow wants a permanent settlement rather than a pause in fighting. He said President Vladimir Putin would instead be "ready to give the order not to strike Ukraine on election day. Specifically on election day" — a one-day pause, not sixty.
"We do not want a ceasefire... We want long-term peace and are prepared to do everything possible to achieve it." — Dmitry Peskov, October 12, 2026
Trump's energy ceasefire already under strain
The exchange came a day after Trump announced a surprise energy ceasefire on Truth Social: "Effective immediately, there is an ENERGY CEASEFIRE in the War between Russia and Ukraine. Both parties have agreed. Do not break it!" — an announcement Kyiv and European allies said they learned about from the media, according to CNN.
By Monday, Zelenskyy accused Russia of violating the deal, citing a large-scale overnight attack on the Kharkiv region that struck a thermal power plant and a gas production facility, killing three people and wounding nine, including children. Moscow has not commented on the allegation. The European Union responded by approving new sanctions targeting Russia's military-industrial complex, with EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas saying she would prefer a ceasefire "which includes people not being killed."
The backdrop is tense: Trump has been pressing Kyiv over Ukrainian strikes on Russian oil refineries, saying on Saturday that "it's time for Ukraine to get a new president" and that Zelenskyy "wants to make problems for the world." Zelenskyy said Ukraine would halt refinery attacks if Russia stopped striking Ukrainian energy infrastructure, and told the Warsaw Security Forum on Monday: "There were Russian violations of the energy ceasefire announced by President Trump."
Why elections matter now
Elections have become a bargaining chip in the diplomacy around the war. Zelenskyy previously named a 60-day ceasefire as the condition for wartime elections in a February 2026 interview, and Trump's public demand for new Ukrainian leadership has added pressure. Kyiv's position is that it will vote — once the guns fall silent long enough to campaign and count ballots safely.
The takeaway
Moscow's answer to Zelenskyy's 60-day election ceasefire is one day — a signal that the Kremlin sees elections as a pressure point, not a path to peace. With Trump's energy ceasefire already disputed and both sides trading strikes, the gap between Kyiv and Moscow remains as wide as ever.
Watch: Russia Rejects 60-Day Ceasefire as Putin Offers Election-Day Pause — The Sunday Guardian, breaking down Peskov's one-day counter-offer and the rejection of the longer truce.
Music in this post's reel: Kevin MacLeod - Long Road Ahead B (incompetech.com), licensed under CC BY 3.0
Sources: Reuters — Kremlin rejects 60-day ceasefire; Reuters — Putin ready to halt attacks only on election day; Reuters — Ukraine accuses Russia of violating energy ceasefire; CNN — Zelensky says Russia violated Trump's energy ceasefire