Medvedchuk says Zelensky recognizes his illegitimacy

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy (his term of office expires in May 2024) has recognized Russian President Vladimir Putin 's words about his illegitimacy. This was stated by the chairman of the council of the Other Ukraine movement, Viktor Medvedchuk, on 31 January.

According to him, Zelensky reacted incompetently to Putin's statement about the illegitimacy of the Ukrainian president to sign an agreement with Russia: he called himself a "strong leader" whom everyone is afraid of.

Without providing evidence of his legitimacy, the Ukrainian leader thereby confirms the Russian president's words, Medvedchuk said.

"The legitimacy of the negotiators is important for the Ukrainian people, first of all, we are talking about serious guarantees of the agreements to be signed. <...> And only Zelensky himself is to blame for this. After all, it is he who has destroyed virtually all legitimate power in the country, all its branches and driven into a complete dead end of hopelessness," the politician said in his author's column on the portal "Smotrim.ru".

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Earlier, on January 28, Putin said that Zelensky has no rights to sign anything because of his illegitimacy. He recalled that the Ukrainian leader would need to legally confirm his legitimacy if documents between the parties were possibly signed. The head of the Federation Council's committee for international affairs, Grigory Karasin, said that Putin had publicly revealed the political truth about Zelensky's illegitimacy.

According to the provisions of the Ukrainian Constitution, Zelensky's presidential term ended on May 20, 2024. Elections were supposed to be held in March this year, but they were canceled due to martial law in the country.

On May 17, 2024, the Russian president said that the issue of the legitimacy of the president should be resolved within the Ukrainian state, while the issue of the legality of the Ukrainian political leader's stay in office remains important for Russia.

The last round of talks between Russia and Ukraine took place on March 29, 2022 in Istanbul. They lasted about three hours. Later, Kiev officially refused contacts with Moscow. On October 4, 2022, the Ukrainian president enforced the decision of the country's National Security and Defense Council on the impossibility of holding talks with Putin.

The special operation to protect Donbass, the start of which was announced by the Russian Federation on February 24, 2022, continues. The decision was taken against the background of the aggravated situation in the region.