Russian President Volodymyr Putin said today that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has no legitimacy after his five-year term expires, and this will create a legal obstacle if Russia and Ukraine resume peace talks, Reuters reported, quoted by BTA.
Ukraine is still under martial law in the third year of Russia's full-scale invasion, and Zelensky has not faced an election even though his five-year term expired this week - something he and Ukraine's allies see as the right decision during of war.
Putin is ready to end the war in Ukraine with an agreed ceasefire that recognizes the current battle lines, Reuters reported today, citing four Russian sources, but was prepared to keep fighting if Kiev and the West did not respond .
But at a televised press conference during a visit to Belarus, Putin said Zelensky's status was problematic.
"But who should we negotiate with? This is not an empty question... Of course, we realize that the legitimacy of the current head of state has ended," he said.
Putin has said the West will use next month's Swiss-hosted conference on the war to bolster Zelensky's legitimacy, but these are "PR moves" without legal significance.
The Russian president pointed out that peace should be achieved through common sense, not ultimatums. It should be based on draft documents that were developed between the two sides in the first weeks of the war, and on "today's realities on the ground" - a reference to the fact that Russia controls nearly 20% of the territory of Ukraine.
"If it comes to that, we will of course need to figure out who we should and can work with to get legally binding documents signed. And then we must be absolutely sure that we are working with legitimate (Ukrainian) authorities," Putin said.
Putin's comments are likely to be taken by Ukraine and its Western allies as further evidence that he has no real intention of starting peace talks, although he has often expressed his willingness to negotiate, Reuters commented.