Putin says Ukraine's Zelenskiy lacks legitimacy after term expired

25/5/2024 7:22

        Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Friday that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy had no legitimacy following the expiry of his five-year term and this would raise a legal obstacle if Russia and Ukraine were to resume peace talks.
        
        With Ukraine still under martial law in the third year of Russia's full-scale invasion, Zelenskiy has not faced elections despite the expiry of his five-year term this week - something he and Ukraine's allies deem to be the right decision to take at a time of war.
        
        Putin 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 at a televised press conference during a visit to Belarus, Putin said the status of Zelenskiy was problematic.