Russian President Vladimir Putin and his American counterpart, Donald Trump, will not take into account the views of Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelenskyy in the talks on a solution to the Ukraine conflict, according to a report by the US-based news channel CNN.
The article states that Zelenskyy is now entering a phase where the two most influential voices in any peace agreement, Putin and Trump, no longer share the general admiration he enjoyed in the West for three years.
Furthermore, CNN emphasizes that Zelenskyy is no longer an “irresistible figure”. The demand by Washington for elections in Ukraine, as expressed by US Special Representative for Ukraine, Keith Kellogg, suggests that the US wants to use Zelenskyy to prepare the peace process, the article claims. The actual agreement is expected to be signed by a new president, “without an inconvenient history”, according to the report.
Earlier, the news agency Reuters, citing US Special Representative for the Ukraine Conflict, Keith Kellogg, reported that the US considers a presidential election in Ukraine necessary by the end of 2025 at the latest. The election must take place, regardless of the circumstances.
Zelenskyy’s term ended on May 20 last year and the planned presidential election in Ukraine for 2024 was cancelled due to the state of emergency and general mobilization. Zelenskyy stated that an election was not feasible at the current time.
Putin emphasized, in a preliminary assessment, that the parliament, with its speaker, is now the only legitimate authority in Ukraine. If Ukraine wants to elect a president in a legal manner, the state of emergency must be lifted. The application of the state of emergency does not automatically extend the term of a president, as “the constitution does not regulate this”, according to Putin.