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Sergey Lavrov stated Vladimir Putin is open to talks with Volodymyr Zelenskyy but questioned Zelenskyy’s legitimacy, as Kyiv insists he remains Ukraine’s leader under martial law.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov attends a meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin at the Kremlin in Moscow, Russia. (IMAGE: REUTERS FILE)
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said on Sunday that President Vladimir Putin is willing to hold talks with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, but cast doubt on Zelenskyy’s legitimacy as Ukraine’s leader.
In a rare interview with NBC News, Lavrov claimed that any negotiations would require clarity on the authority of the person signing an agreement. “When we come to a stage where you have to sign documents, we’d need a clear understanding that the person who’s signing is legitimate. According to the Ukrainian constitution, Zelenskyy is not,” he said.
Lavrov underscored that Zelenskyy was the de facto head of the Ukrainian regime, but said that “the issue of who is going to sign the deal on the Ukrainian side is a very serious [one].”
“We would need a very clear understanding by everybody that the person who is signing is legitimate,” he said, adding that Zelenskyy’s calls for a meeting with Putin were a ploy to strengthen his legitimacy.
Moscow has frequently questioned Zelenskyy’s status since his five-year presidential term formally ended in May. Kyiv maintains that Zelenskyy remains the legitimate head of state under martial law provisions, which extend presidential powers during wartime.
His remarks come days after Russian President Vladimir Putin and his US counterpart Donald Trump held closely-watched talks in Alaska, after which Russia called for turning the page in bilateral relations and resuming cooperation, and invited Trump to Moscow.
Russia-Ukraine Peace Efforts
Meanwhile, Putin said he had a good, constructive and frank discussion with Trump in Alaska. “I really hope the first steps made are just the beginning of a full-scale recovery of Russia-US relations. The next steps depend on the US leadership,” he was quoted as saying by the Foreign Ministry.
Zelenskyy also met with Trump last week in Washington alongside other European leaders in pursuit of gathering more support to broker a ceasefire between Russia and Ukraine. Trump has urged for a direct peace agreement between both sides to end the war.
US Vice President JD Vance said Russia has made “significant concessions” to Ukraine over Trump’s demands to end the war, adding that the US president has been engaged in “very aggressive, very energetic diplomacy” with both Moscow and Kyiv in a bid to find a compromise solution that would stop the killing.
He also stressed that Russia has “recognised that they’re not going to be able to install a puppet regime in Kyiv” and asserted that Washington will continue playing an active role in ensuring Ukraine gets its security guarantees.
Meanwhile, Zelenskyy on Sunday stressed that a meeting with Putin would be “the most effective way forward” after Russia on Friday ruled out a meeting between the two leaders. Lavrov had accused Western countries of seeking “a pretext to block negotiations”.
Ukraine Under Attack
Despite peace efforts, Russia has not compromised on its military offensive, as it claimed new advances, including taking two villages in the eastern Donetsk region on Saturday. Ukraine said it reclaimed three other villages in the region.
In its latest attack, Russia allegedly launched a ballistic missile and 72 Iranian-made Shahed attack drones, 48 of which the Ukrainian air force said had been shot down. A Russian drone strike also killed a 47-year-old woman in the eastern region of Dnipropetrovsk.
Meanwhile, Ukraine and Russia said they had each sent back 146 prisoners of war and civilians in the latest of a series of swaps that remain one of the few areas of cooperation between the rivals.
Aveek Banerjee is a Senior Sub Editor at News18. Based in Noida with a Master’s in Global Studies, Aveek has more than three years of experience in digital media and news curation, specialising in international…Read More
Aveek Banerjee is a Senior Sub Editor at News18. Based in Noida with a Master’s in Global Studies, Aveek has more than three years of experience in digital media and news curation, specialising in international… Read More
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