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Russia Recognizes Zelensky as De Facto Head of Regime, Ready to Meet With Him in This Capacity

Sputnik News

20250824

MOSCOW (Sputnik) Russia sees Volodymyr Zelensky as the de facto leader of the current Ukrainian administration who has the legitimacy to negotiate on Kiev's behalf but not to sign a truce, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said.

"We recognize him as de facto head of the regime. And in this capacity, we are ready to meet with him... When we come to a stage where you have to sign documents, we would need a very clear understanding by everybody that the person who is signing is legitimate. And according to the Ukrainian constitution, Mr. Zelensky is not, at the moment," Lavrov told NBC in an interview.

Here are the highlights of the interview:

'Moscow respects Trump because he defends the interests of the US, and there are reasons to believe that Trump respects Putin because he defends the interests of Russia'

• The goals of the special military operation in Ukraine will be achieved, Russia must eliminate any security threats coming from there
• The reaction of European representatives to the meeting in Alaska, their visit to Washington, and subsequent actions indicate that they do not want peace
• We have no interest in the territories, we are interested in the fates of the people living in Donbass and Novorossiya
• On Ukraine's security guarantees, there should be a consensus that takes Russia's interests into account
• Putin and Trump discussed practical steps and serious issues related to security in Alaska
• Zelensky is not currently a legitimate figure who could sign legal documents when it comes to that
• Putin is ready to meet with Zelensky on the condition that the meeting will truly have a presidential agenda. It is unreasonable to meet with him just for another opportunity to be in the spotlight.
• The meeting between Putin and Zelensky was not discussed at the Russia-US summit in Alaska, this topic was raised later, "spontaneously"
• Ukraine and Europe are trying to distort what Putin and Trump discussed in Alaska, especially the issue of security guarantees
• The Russian and Ukrainian delegations have met and will continue to meet in Istanbul to discuss specific military and humanitarian issues
• Russia has never, under any circumstances, deliberately targeted objectives not related to Ukrainian military forces
• The West wants security guarantees for Ukraine to come at Russia's expense, in violation of the indivisible security principle, and is ready to deploy troops on Ukrainian soil to deter Russia
• Russia has never deliberately targeted sites that are not associated with the Ukrainian military
• Ukraine's right to exist is contingent on it allowing regions to secede where populations voted for independence in referendums
• Foreign capital in military plants in Ukraine does not grant them immunity from potential attacks or consequences
• The delegations of Russia and Ukraine have met and will continue to meet in Turkey's Istanbul to discuss military and humanitarian issues

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