At today’s four-and-a-half-hour “Results of the Year with Vladimir Putin,” the Russian President was asked about negotiations with Ukraine. He offered in his remarks on the Presidential website that they are prepared to begin negotiations even with Ukraine’s Volodymyr Zelenskyy, provided he is legitimized through another presidential election. Putin explained that under the Ukrainian Constitution, there is no mechanism for extending the presidential term during martial law and that only the Verkhnovna Rada has the authority to prolong its term without holding elections during wartime.
RT quoted him as saying: “Now, if Ukraine truly wants to go down the path of peaceful resolution, it can do so by organizing it inside the country however they want. But we can only sign agreements with those who are legitimate, and the only ones who are [now] legitimate are the Rada and the Rada chairman.”
