Russian president Vladimir Putin said on Friday that Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky had no legitimacy following the expiry of his five-year term and this would raise a legal obstacle if Russia and Ukraine were to hold peace talks.
Mr Putin said he is ready to halt the war in Ukraine with a negotiated ceasefire that recognises the current battlefield lines, Reuters reported on Friday, citing four Russian sources, but is ready to fight on if Kyiv and the West do not respond.
“But who to negotiate with? That’s not an idle question...Of course, we realise the legitimacy of the incumbent head of state is over,” he said in press conference.Ruslan Stefanchuk, the speaker of Ukraine’s parliament, said this week that anyone questioning the president’s legitimacy was an “enemy of Ukraine” spreading false information.
It came as a Russian attack destroyed trains and tracks Kharkiv region, officials said on Friday. Children were being evacuated from the area as it is pummeled by the Kremlin’s forces in a powerful new offensive.