TOGLIATTI, January 28. /TASS/. Ukraine can send whoever it wants to the negotiations with Russia, but if a deal is struck, it must be signed by legitimate authorities, Russian President Vladimir Putin said.
"If they are willing to engage in talks and find a compromise, they can delegate anyone to hold such talks. But from the point of view of signing the deal, naturally, we want the legitimacy of the people who will be authorized by the Ukrainian state to sign these agreements to be confirmed by lawyers," he said in an interview with VGTRK journalist Pavel Zarubin.
The Ukrainian president has no right to extend his office term even amid martial law as the constitution says that this can be done only by parliament, Putin said.
"Under Ukraine’s constitution, even in conditions of martial law, the Ukrainian president has no right to extend his office term. His term can only be prolonged by representative bodies, only the Rada, i.e. the country’s parliament. And the presidential term is five years. That’s all. After that, his duties go over to a Rada representative," he noted.
Zelensky’s office term officially expired on May 20, 2024. Neither parliamentary nor presidential elections were held in Ukraine due to martial law. Putin said earlier that Ukraine prefers to keep silent about the Constitutional Court ruling of May 2014 that the presidential term cannot be prolonged.