MOSCOW, June 14. /TASS/. The Ukrainian constitution does not under any circumstances allow postponing the presidential election, only delaying Verkhovna Rada elections, Russian President Vladimir Putin said at a meeting with senior diplomats.
"The Ukrainian constitution does not provide for the possibility of canceling or postponing the election of the country's president, the continuation of his powers due to martial law, which they refer to," he stated. "The Ukrainian basic law says that elections of the Verkhovna Rada can be postponed during martial law. This is Article 83 of the country's constitution. So Ukrainian legislation has provided the only exception when the powers of the state authorities are extended for the period of martial law and elections are not held. This applies only to the Verkhovna Rada, thus designating the status of the Ukrainian parliament as a permanent body under martial law," Putin pointed out.
The president added that the Verkhovna Rada "is a legitimate body, unlike the executive branch."
"Ukraine is not a presidential republic, but a parliamentary-presidential one. That is the essence of it. Moreover, the chairman of the Verkhovna Rada, acting as president, is endowed with special powers by Articles 106 and 112," the president said. He noted that it also concerns defense, security, and supreme command of the armed forces. "Everything is spelled out clearly there," he concluded.