Russia stated that Zelensky is ‘not suitable’ to sign a memorandum on ending the war

Russian officials are claiming that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky is “not suitable” to sign a memorandum to end the war in Ukraine.

This was stated by Maksim Musikhin, Director of the Legal Department of the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

“The current leader of Ukraine has long since lost even internal legitimacy, let alone external legitimacy. Accordingly, there could be issues regarding the validity of any agreement signed by such a person,” he said.

“The Ukrainian people need to freely choose a new leader. Then there will be a legitimate signatory. Right now, the issue is tied to certain internal requirements of the Ukrainian Constitution. Formally speaking, it may be the head of parliament who has some authority to sign. Whether he would be allowed to do so within his own country is a big question,” Musikhin added.

Earlier, President Vladimir Putin had stated that Zelensky may participate in negotiations, but cannot sign anything due to his ‘illegitimacy.’

As a reminder, Mykhailo Podolyak, advisor to the head of the Ukrainian Presidential Office, has said that the Office does not expect Russia to propose peace terms that are acceptable to Ukraine in the upcoming memorandum concerning a potential peace agreement.