Who on the Ukrainian side could sign a memorandum of understanding with Russia?
The head of legal affairs at the Russian Foreign Ministry stated that the new leadership to sign the memorandum should be chosen by the Ukrainian people, and that Volodymyr Zelensky is not suitable for this role.
According to TASS on May 22, Maxim Musikhin, head of the legal department of the Russian Foreign Ministry, stated that the Ukrainian people must elect a new leadership to sign the memorandum with the Russian Federation; the head of parliament may not be legally qualified to assume the role of signatory.
"The important thing is whose signature is on the documents, because their 'leaders' have long since lost their internal legitimacy, not to mention external legitimacy. Therefore, there may be issues regarding the validity of any agreement signed by such a person," said Maxim Musikhin, head of the legal department of the Russian Foreign Ministry.
According to the diplomat, one must be absolutely certain that the settlement agreement is signed on the Ukrainian side by "a person with the authority of the people to do so, otherwise there will be problems."
Musikhin emphasized that leader Vladimir Zelensky is unfit to be a signatory. "The Ukrainian people must freely choose their new leader," he continued. "Then there will be a legally authorized signatory. And now we are talking about some internal requirements of the Ukrainian constitution. Theoretically, if we consider it officially, the head of parliament has some authority to sign. Whether he is allowed to do this in his own country is a big question."
According to the Russian diplomat, the memorandum discussed during the conversation between Russian President Vladimir Putin and US President Donald Trump "will need the right signatories," but "this is currently the issue." Musikhin also pointed out that all parties signing the resolution documents need to be considered.
