Russia questioned the legitimacy of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Thursday and said the security guarantees under discussion for a potential peace deal are “hopeless.”
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said at a press conference that Russian President Vladimir Putin is ready to meet with Zelensky — a move backed by President Trump — but only if certain conditions are met first.
“Our president has repeatedly said that he is ready to meet, including with Mr. Zelensky, with the understanding that all issues that require consideration at the highest level will be well worked out,” Lavrov said, according to a translation of his remarks in The Associated Press.
“And, of course, with the understanding that when and if the matter — I hope when — comes to signing future agreements, the issue of the legitimacy of the person who will sign these agreements with the Ukrainian side will be resolved,” he continued.
Putin has repeatedly suggested Zelensky is not a legitimate president because his term was due to expire last year and martial law delayed elections. The Russian leader has claimed Zelensky lacks legal standing to sign any formal agreements.
Lavrov has been noncommittal about whether Putin would join a bilateral meeting with Zelensky, saying Tuesday that any summit between the leaders should be prepared “step by step, gradually, starting from the expert level and then going through all the necessary stages.”
Lavrov also said Thursday that security guarantees for Ukraine should be based on the terms discussed in the talks in Istanbul in 2022. Ukraine has rejected that proposal.
"All the different [ideas], all the unilateral [moves] are an absolutely hopeless venture,” Lavrov said, according to Reuters.
“As the current discussions between the West and the Ukrainian side are essentially linked to providing guarantees in the form of the foreign military intervention of a certain part of the Ukrainian territory,” he continued.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio is in charge of a new joint commission, made up of the U.S., European and Ukrainian officials, that will craft a security guarantees draft for Ukraine.
Lavrov said Wednesday that discussions about potential Western security guarantees for Ukraine as part of a broader peace deal to end the war are a “road to nowhere” unless Moscow is involved in the talks.
“We have already explained more than once that Russia does not overstate its interests, but we will ensure our legitimate interests firmly and harshly,” Lavrov said Wednesday.
“And I am sure that in the West and above all in the United States they understand perfectly well that seriously discussing security issues without the Russian Federation is an utopia, a road to nowhere.”
Source: The Hill - News
