“Everything will be over in a month or two”: Putin gives interview on possible talks
28 January 22:08
Russian Federation leader Vladimir Putin has spoken out about the likelihood of negotiations between Ukraine and Russia to end the war. He gave the interview to one of the Kremlin journalists for some reason in the car, according to Komersant ukrainskyi.
Putin devoted most of the 10-minute interview to proving that the Ukrainian president is illegitimate to sign any agreements.
“You can negotiate with anyone, but because of his illegitimacy, he [Zelensky] has no right to sign anything. But if he wants to participate in the negotiations, I will provide him with people who will negotiate with him. Please do so.”
– putin said, hinting that he was not going to sit down at the same table as Zelensky.
According to him, the main question is who will sign the relevant document.
“This is a very serious issue that should guarantee the security of both Ukraine, by the way, and Russia for a long historical perspective. But, according to the Constitution of Ukraine, the President of Ukraine, even under martial law, has no right not to extend his powers. Only representative bodies, the parliament, have this right. The president has only a five-year term. That’s it, nothing more. Then his powers are transferred to the head of the Rada,”
– the Russian president said.
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In other words, according to Putin, Zelenskyy can negotiate, but he cannot sign the agreement. The document must be legally verified, the Kremlin leader says. At the same time, he sees another “trick” in Zelenskyy’s legitimacy.
“When the current head of the regime signed this decree [banning negotiations with Putin – ed. And now he cannot cancel it because it is illegitimate. This is the trick. The catch is what, you know? A trap!”
– putin said, and suggested that the Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine could be an acceptable political figure to sign the document.
Putin concluded the interview with a passage saying that Ukraine would last no more than two months without Western aid.
“They cannot exist. They won’t even last a month if they run out of money and, in a broad sense, ammunition. That’s it. Everything will be over in a month and a half or two. In this sense, Ukraine’s sovereignty is almost zero,”
– putin said, provoking media headlines that he had declared the war over in two months.
As reported by , on January 26, the so-called “Trump’s 100-day plan” for a peaceful settlement in Ukraine was posted online. According to the plan, a meeting or meetings between Zelenskyy, Trump, and Putin should take place in February or early March.