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ISW: Putin revives Zelenskyy “illegitimacy” claim to derail potential talks

Russia’s defense minister, meanwhile, restated that Ukraine must withdraw from its Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporizhzhia, and Kherson oblasts to begin negotiations.
byYuri Zoria
17/12/2024
3 minute read
isw putin revives zelenskyy “illegitimacy” claim derail potential talks russia's ruler vladimir speaking expanded meeting ministry defense board moscow 16 2024 kremlinru ranting mod hlo minister meanwhile restated ukraine withdraw
Russia’s ruler VLadimir Putin speaking at an expanded meeting of the Ministry of Defense board in Moscow on 16 December 2024. Screenshot: kremlin.ru
ISW: Putin revives Zelenskyy “illegitimacy” claim to derail potential talks

The Institute for the Study of War (ISW) reported that Russian President Vladimir Putin has revived the false narrative questioning Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s legitimacy, tying regime change and territorial concessions to Russia’s preconditions for peace talks. This comes as US President-elect Donald Trump pushes for negotiations to end the ongoing Russo-Ukrainian war.

Since February 2022, Russia has maintained its political goals for the invasion of Ukraine, which amount to Ukraine’s capitulation. These include toppling President Zelenskyy, renouncing NATO aspirations, enforcing so-called “denazification and demilitarization” – targeting anyone Russia deems “a Nazi” and rendering Ukraine defenseless – to return the country to Russia’s sphere of influence as a client state. The demands to cede four regions emerged later in 2022, when Russia declared their annexation, not fully controlling either of them to this day.

On 16 December, during a Russian Ministry of Defense (MoD) board meeting, Putin repeated the Kremlin’s claim that Zelenskyy is illegitimate, citing a distorted interpretation of Ukraine’s Constitution. He falsely asserted that the Constitution allegedly allows only the powers of the Verkhovna Rada (Parliament) to be extended under martial law, not the President’s.

Ukraine, meanwhile, has been under martial law since Russia’s full-scale invasion in February 2022, legally preventing elections, which Zelenskyy suspended under constitutional provisions. Kremlin officials have used this false narrative to claim Zelenskyy is illegitimate and the Rada is Russia’s only legitimate negotiating partner.

ISW emphasized that this narrative aligns with Russia’s longstanding strategy of delegitimizing Ukraine’s government and sovereignty. Putin’s resurrection of the illegitimacy narrative likely suggests that the Kremlin views regime change in Kyiv as a precondition for negotiations. ISW assessed that Russia remains uninterested in genuine peace talks and will only engage when it believes it has secured maximum concessions.

West doesn’t get Russia’s goals, can hand Moscow victory in Ukraine, warns analyst

At the same meeting, Russian Defense Minister Andrey Belousov reaffirmed Putin’s earlier territorial objectives in Ukraine. Referring to Putin’s June 2024 speech, Belousov claimed that Ukrainian forces must fully withdraw from Russian-occupied and Ukrainian-controlled territories in Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporizhzhia, and Kherson oblasts before peace negotiations can occur.

This stance was echoed on 12 December by Russian Security Council Deputy Chair Dmitry Medvedev, who reiterated that occupying all of these territories remains a core Kremlin objective. ISW noted that Russian officials across government branches are publicly promoting these demands, underscoring their consistent territorial objectives.

“Kremlin officials’ recent emphasis on Putin’s territorial demands, coupled with Putin’s continued claim that the current Ukrainian government is illegitimate, demonstrate that the Kremlin is demanding that other negotiating parties hand over sovereign Ukrainian territory, including some that Russia has been unable to seize militarily to Russia without Ukraine’s consent,” ISW concluded.

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