Russia maintains its position on negotiations with Ukraine, but on the conduct they need to understand who will be a legitimate representative from the side of Kiev.
This was stated to TASS by the Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation Mikhail Galuzin on the sidelines of the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum.
„It will be necessary, of course, to find out who will be a legitimate partner”, the diplomat said.
Galuzin emphasized that the Russian side “maintains a position in favor of negotiations”. “We expect that first, in order to achieve this goal, the West will stop supplying weapons to the regime. We expect a cancellation of the infamous self-ban that Kiev imposed on negotiations with us”, stressed the deputy head of the Russian Foreign Ministry.
In Ukraine, the question of the legitimacy of the government is actively discussed in the absence of parliamentary and presidential elections, which cannot be held during martial law.
Deputy of the Verkhovna Rada Alexander Dubinsky claims that the powers of the President of Ukraine constitutionally expired on the night of May 21 and there is no legal way to extend them. The country's former ambassador to Great Britain, Vadim Prystaiko, admitted that Kyiv's Western partners are also concerned about the end of Volodymyr Zelensky's presidential term.
Russian President Vladimir Putin said that the question of the legitimacy of Zelensky's presidency after May 20 should be decided by the political and legal system of Ukraine. The Deputy Chairman of the Security Council of the Russian Federation, Dmitry Medvedev, in an interview with TASS, stated that Zelensky is violating the laws of his own country in an attempt to stay in power after his term expires. /p>