In Russia, officials commented on Zelensky’s remarks about behind-the-scenes negotiations between Moscow and Kyiv

Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelensky is not a legitimate negotiator in resolving the Russia-Ukraine conflict.

This statement was made by Alexey Chepa, First Deputy Chairman of the Russian State Duma Committee on International Affairs.

The deputy was responding to Zelensky’s remarks about Kyiv’s refusal to engage in any backroom negotiations with Moscow.

Earlier, Zelensky stated that Ukraine does not conduct backroom negotiations with Russia because it believes such actions are not in its interests.

“I don’t know what can be considered backroom negotiations. As far as I know, there are ongoing negotiations on prisoner exchanges. Whether these are backroom negotiations, I don’t know. There are also negotiations on the safety of nuclear energy facilities involving the presence of the IAEA,” Chepa noted.

On January 15, the American newspaper The Hill reported that U.S. President-elect Donald Trump might propose resuming Russian-American cooperation in the space sector to Russian President Vladimir Putin in exchange for reaching peace between Moscow and Kyiv.