Lavrov: "Russia recognises Zelenskyy as de facto head of Ukraine and is ready to meet with him, but legitimacy is needed to sign documents."
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said that Russia recognises Volodymyr Zelenskyy as the "de facto" head of Ukraine and is ready to meet with him, but will not sign any documents.
The Russian minister said this in an interview with NBC News, Censor.NET reports.
"We recognise him(Zelenskyy - ed.) as the de facto head of the regime. And in this capacity, we are ready to meet with him. But as for signing legal documents... When we get to the point where we sign the documents, we need a clear understanding from everyone that the person who will sign these documents will have legitimacy. According to the Ukrainian Constitution, Mr Zelenskyy does not have it at the moment," Lavrov said.
He also said that Russian dictator Vladimir Putin is allegedly ready to meet with Zelenskyy when an "agenda" is prepared for this.
"We cannot meet just to take a picture and give him the opportunity to claim that he is legitimate. After all, legitimacy is a separate issue. Regardless of when this meeting may take place, the question of who will sign the document on the Ukrainian side is very important," the Russian Foreign Minister said.
Earlier, Sergey Lavrov said that Russian dictator Vladimir Putin was ready to meet with President Volodymyr Zelenskyy under certain conditions.
