Russia’s Vladimir Putin said he was ready to negotiate an end to the war with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, while dismissing the idea of signing a peace agreement with him due to his alleged “illegitimacy”.
That’s according to The Moscow Times, Ukrinform reports.
“I am ready to meet with anyone, including Zelensky. Yes, that is not the question. If the Ukrainian state trusts someone to negotiate, whatever, let it be Zelensky,” Putin said at a meeting with the heads of international news agencies as part of the St. Petersburg Economic Forum.
He added that in the “propaganda terms” one can say “anything about Zelensky’s legitimacy,” but Russian authorities are interested in “not the propaganda component, but the legal one.”
According to Putin, a meeting with Zelensky is possible at the “final stage” of the negotiations, “so as not to sit there and bargain something endlessly but to put a full stop.”
“But a full stop must be put (put – ed.), the signature must come from a legitimate government. Otherwise, you know, someone else will come next… and throw it all in trash. But that’s impossible either, we’re addressing serious issues,” Putin said.
The Russian dictator again referred to the Constitution of Ukraine, which states that a president is elected for a five-year term, and, because of this, Zelensky’s powers as president should have allegedly been terminated even amid martial law, while only the Verkhovna Rada could retain its mandate. Putin noted that, according to the constitutional system, Ukraine is a presidential-parliamentary republic, and “this means that all bodies shall be formed by president,” but if the head of state is not legitimate, then “the entire system of government becomes illegitimate.” He did not specify with whom Russian authorities would sign a potential peace agreement if this is the case. Putin had previously said that the head of the Verkhovna Rada, Ruslan Stefanchuk, could sign the peace treaty.
Also, as quoted by the BBC Russian service, Putin stated that:
Russia wants to end the war as soon as possible, “and better – peacefully, if we could come to an agreement”;
Russia is not attacking residential areas in Ukrainian cities, targeting exclusively the military-industrial complex;
Regarding attempts to start peace talks, Putin said that, as per the head of the Russian delegation, Vladimir Medinsky, he is trying to agree with the Ukrainian side to hold another meeting after June 22.
In addition, Putin reported that Russia had handed over to Ukraine 6,000 bodies, and was ready to hand over another 3,000.
Putin also said, “We believe we did not start hostilities in Ukraine, but are trying to end them.”
As Ukrinform reported earlier, the deputy foreign minister of the aggressor state, Alexander Grushko, said Moscow demanded that Ukraine get rid of all weapons provided by Western partners in order to “end the war”. The Ukrainian Foreign Ministry commented on the statement, saying that Moscow’s absurd demand to destroy all weapons provided to Ukraine by Western partners demonstrates complete disregard for the U.S. efforts to end the war.
Source: Putin says ready to meet with Zelensky, but not to sign peace deal with Ukraine’s president
