Zelenskyy's office rejects petition calling for press conference for independent media representatives

The Office of the President has refused to publish a petition on the president's official website that calls for Volodymyr Zelenskyy to hold a press conference with independent media representatives.

Source: journalist Danylo Mokryk, who initiated the petition, on Facebook

Details: Mokryk has posted screenshots of his petition and the response he received from the President's Office.

In the petition, the journalist stressed that protests have been taking place across Ukraine for more than a month now, and one of the protesters' consistent demands has been for Zelenskyy to engage in genuine dialogue with the public.

Mokryk suggested that an effective and realistic way to pursue such dialogue could be to hold a press conference for independent and critical journalists and media outlets: "They are ready to ask the tough and pressing questions about domestic policy that are being raised at the protests, and the public wants to hear the president answer these questions directly."

The petition states: "We are calling for a separate press conference to be held, with representatives of the following media outlets to be invited and given the opportunity to ask questions: Ukrainska Pravda, Bihus.Info, Slidstvo.Info, Radio Liberty, hromadske, The Kyiv Independent, Suspilne, NV, Dzerkalo Tyzhnia, BBC Ukraine and Liga.net."

Mokryk stressed that an open conversation with independent journalists could be a genuine response to the demands being voiced by the public.

In response to the initiative, representatives of the President's Office said that "the electronic petition submitted to the president of Ukraine does not meet the established requirements and therefore will not be published".

Background: Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy last held a major press conference in February 2025. Since then, he has answered journalists' questions while on foreign trips, at briefings during visits by delegations from other countries to Kyiv, or – selectively – in chats with the press on social media.

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