Former Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko told Al Jazeera in an interview broadcast early on Wednesday that he hoped to return to his country’s highest office at some point.

Even though elections cannot be held under conditions of war, Mr Poroshenko made clear that he planned to campaign once they could.

But before elections were held, Ukraine would have to secure victory over Russia, he said.

“This war is bigger than Ukraine. This is about world order, freedom, and democracy. We are here fighting and saving the world,’’ he said.

Mr Poroshenko, who heads the largest opposition party that was not banned, said an alternative plan would be to campaign for a seat in the European Parliament once Ukraine joined the European Union.

Mr Poroshenko served five years in office, losing to Volodymyr Zelensky in the 2019 elections.

Under the constitution, presidential elections should have been held on Sunday but were postponed.

According to opinion polls, the Ukrainian public is opposed to holding elections under wartime conditions, while Mr Zelensky’s term ends officially on May 20.

A provision in the constitution allowed him to stay in office until a successor took over.

Russia appeared to be planning to take advantage of this situation for propaganda purposes.

After May 20, Mr Zelensky will be a dictator, Sergei Mironov, head of the A Just Russia For Truth party, said on Tuesday.

Russian foreign minister Sergei Lavrov said that Moscow would not have to talk to Mr Zelensky after that date. 

(Xinhua/NAN)