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Full Screen Photo: Mikhail Metzel / AP
He has said repeatedly that he refuses.
But now it sounds different.
And it is said to be a way to prepare the people for peace negotiations.
It is in an interview with a Russian journalist that Putin is now suddenly turning on Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyj.
Earlier this winter, Putin dismissed the possibility of direct negotiations between the leaders.
Suddenly admits
He has repeatedly called Zelenskyj for an illegitimate representative of Ukraine as his term has expired and a new presidential election was postponed in the future.
The Ukrainian president then said that Putin’s statements “confirmed that he is afraid of negotiations, afraid of strong leaders and does everything to extend the war”, Writes Newsweek.
But in the interview, Putin Zelenskyj now recognizes as legal president and says it is Ukraine’s laws of war that stopped a new election during ongoing armed conflict.
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Full screenputin now recognizes Zelenskyj as legitimate president. Photo: Evgeniy Maloletka / AP
Prepares the people
The think tank Institute for the Study of War (ISW) writes in its latest analysis Over the war that Donald Trump demanded that Putin and Zeleskyj sit at the negotiating table.
And that Putin’s turn is likely to be a way of explaining to the people, which is why, despite his previous messages, he may be in such negotiations.
ISW writes that the Russian president has also changed his way of talking about the Ukrainian leadership – but with the same final goal of regime change in Kiev.
Since the invasion of Ukraine, Putin has said that it is necessary to “avail” the country by replacing the leadership.
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Helglardonald Trump should have demanded that Putin and Zelenskyj sit at the negotiating table, according to ISW Photo: AP
Want a regime change
In the last interview, the president instead says that Russia “does not mind an independent Ukraine”.
But he also says he wants to see a Ukraine that is “a friendly neighbor” and that the country’s territory “should not be used for attacks against Russia in the future”.
According to ISW “it seems to be a new way of expressing the same requirement”. Putin has been demanding regime shift in Ukraine since 2021.
The fact that Putin now calls Zelenskyj for legitimate president does not mean that he has any kind words for him.
In the interview, he says that he is “toxic” to Ukrainian society and the military and that Zelenskyj would lose a new presidential election who the opponent would be.