President Putin: Russia needs to clarify with whom it will sign a peace treaty in Ukraine?
(Baonghean.vn) - Regarding negotiations with Kiev, President Vladimir Putin emphasized that Russia is ready to negotiate peace with Ukraine, but the country should only return to negotiations based on the current situation in the Northeastern Military District and take into account previously reached agreements.
According to RT, at a press conference after meeting with Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko on May 24, President Putin said that Russia is ready to negotiate with the Kiev government, but now Moscow needs to clarify with whom it will sign legal documents, since Ukraine does not have a legitimate president. According to President Putin, the legitimacy of the head of Ukraine has now expired.
"I think that one of the goals of the upcoming conference on Ukraine in Switzerland is precisely for the Western community, the current sponsors of Kiev, to confirm the legitimacy of the current head of state, or the one who is no longer in office. But these PR steps are not important for legal documents," President Putin said.
The Russian leader also pointed out that peace negotiations between Russia and Ukraine should be resumed not with the help of ultimatums, but with the help of "common sense and must be based on common sense."
"Of course, we understand who we need and can negotiate with to sign legally binding documents. We must be absolutely confident that we are working with legitimate authorities," President Putin stressed.
According to Mr. Putin, it is necessary to consider the Constitution of Ukraine, which stipulates which government bodies have the right to extend their terms without an election procedure and which bodies cannot rely on these rights.
President Volodymyr Zelensky's five-year term (2019-2024) expired on May 20. He canceled the elections in Ukraine, citing the fact that the democratic process in the country is currently "untimely".
The Russian President also reiterated that Moscow never refused to negotiate, and even agreed to move the negotiation process to Istanbul, where preliminary agreements were reached.
President Putin also stressed that the Kiev government has banned itself from holding future peace talks: "We are not banning anyone. We are negotiating."
"Now we see that the negotiations need to resume. But they should not be based on what one negotiating party wants, but on the fundamental agreements reached during the difficult negotiations in Belarus and Türkiye," the Russian President said./.
