Illegitimately "elected" Putin claims Zelenskyy's legitimacy is over

Russian leader Vladimir Putin has said he believes that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy's legitimacy has "come to an end".

Source: Kremlin-aligned Russian news agency RIA Novosti, citing Putin

Details: After meeting with Alexander Lukashenko, the self-proclaimed president of Belarus, Putin reiterated that he wants peace talks with Ukraine. "We are in favour of negotiations," he said, adding that "we see that discussions have now resumed, that we need to resume negotiations".

Putin repeated yet again that the talks should be "based on the realities on the ground".

In addition, Russia's ruler claimed that Zelenskyy's legitimacy had "come to an end". And when the time comes for peace talks, Putin "will need to understand who to deal with in order to sign legally binding agreements". 

Quote: "Who shall we negotiate with? We are aware that the legitimacy of the current head of state [Zelenskyy] has come to an end. I think that one of the goals of the conference in Switzerland is for the Western community to confirm the legitimacy of the current head of state or not."

Background:

• After the so-called "presidential election" in Russia, Ukraine's Foreign Ministry said it saw no reason to consider Putin a democratically elected and legitimate president of the Russian Federation.
• Zelenskyy noted that dialogue with Russian leader Vladimir Putin is currently impossible, as the Kremlin ruler is not an independent figure, and he lives in a vacuum of hate towards Ukraine supported by his inner circle.
• The European Commission has responded to Russian propaganda claims that Volodymyr Zelenskyy is allegedly an illegitimate president of Ukraine, as his five-year term in office ended on 21 May 2024.
• At the same time, the European Parliament adopted a resolution condemning the way Putin's "re-election" was conducted and calling for it to be considered illegitimate.

Support UP or become our patron!