Joanna Kikisis

Here's Merz.

He's saying it would be a mistake to force the Ukrainian president into a peace that his people will not accept after four years of suffering and death.

Well, Zelensky has been walking something of a tightrope, but he is engaging with even the most painful proposals by the Trump administration to show that Ukraine is negotiating in good faith.

At the same time, he knows giving up territory has always been a red line for Ukrainians.

Well, Trump said recently that Zelensky's government is using the war to avoid elections.

And this echoes what the Kremlin has been saying, which they say Zelensky is not

a legitimate president because his term expired last year.

But there is also a good reason that there have not been Ukrainian elections.

Ukraine is under martial law because of Russia's invasion, and Ukraine's constitution forbids holding elections during wartime.

Nevertheless, Zelensky said he is examining the possibility of elections over the next 90 days or even a referendum on giving up parts of eastern Ukraine in exchange for ending the war.

He's saying if this is something our key partner in Washington wants, we have to look into it.

Well, there are many obstacles to that.

Ivana Klimpushtinsada, she's a member of Ukraine's parliament.

She told me about a legal obstacle.

And then she says there are huge logistical challenges, like how four million Ukrainian refugees could vote or how soldiers on the front line could vote.

Yes, absolutely.

Public opinion polls show most Ukrainians think holding elections now is actually a terrible idea.

Yulia Hryp, who works in customer service here in Kyiv, she told us Russia could attack voting precincts.

Now, Zelensky says elections could only happen during a ceasefire and with security guarantees from the West.

And, Michelle, if elections were held soon, sometime soon, public opinion polls showed that Zelensky would still come in first.