DISINFO: Moscow and Kyiv negotiations will be illegitimate because Zelenskyy is illegitimate
SUMMARY
Negotiations between Russia and Ukraine will be illegitimate if they are conducted now. Firstly, a way needs to be found to cancel the decree previously signed by Volodymyr Zelenskyy banning negotiations. If [Russia] starts negotiations now, they will be illegitimate. Why? Because when the current head of the regime, as only he can be called today, signed this decree, he was a relatively legitimate president. But now he cannot cancel it, because it is illegitimate. That's the trick.
RESPONSE
Recurring pro-Kremlin disinformation narratives about Ukraine’s leadership, aimed at undermining the legitimacy of President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. This is part of a wider disinformation campaign to justify Russia’s unprovoked invasion.
Ukraine’s constitution is straightforward: no elections can be held during wartime, and the President of Ukraine exercises his powers until the assumption of office by the newly-elected President. The continuity of government institutions is one of the key principles of the Constitution.
Many observers consider regular elections unfeasible as there are millions of voters abroad, hundreds of thousands serve on the frontlines and a significant part endures Russian occupation. Multiple funding and infrastructure problems can hardly be addressed while the war is ongoing.
The ultimate goal of this disinformation story is to promote the idea that the negotiations to resolve the current crisis will take place sooner or later, but not with Volodymyr Zelenskyy - who is falsely purported to be a Western puppet - but with his master. The pro-Kremlin disinformation narrative aims to create an impression of strength ahead of any possible peace negotiations with Ukraine.
Vladimir Putin and the Kremlin have a track record of pretending negotiations which are, in fact, just blunt demands for Ukrainian unconditional surrender. We have analysed and exposed this disinformation tactic in several articles, especially: "Prepare for winter" (30 Nov. 2023), "Russian so-called ‘peace proposals’ are empty PR stunts" (18 Jan. 2023) , "What He Said and What it Really Means – Vol. 2: “Negotiations” (1. March 2022) and "The Kremlin security demands" (21 Dec. 2021).
See also our article The Kremlin’s strange idea of peace.
Read similar disinformation cases claiming that Russia will not negotiate with illegitimate puppet Zelenskyy, that Zelenskyy is the main obstacle to peace, that By visiting Kyiv, Indian Prime Minister Modi has legitimised illegitimate Zelenskyy, that Zelenskyy is illegitimate and therefore Russia is directly fighting the West, that the prolonged war allows Zelenskyy and his junta to maintain their positions of power, that Zelenskyy and the Kyiv junta need to continue the war against Russia to enrich themselves with Western aid that Zelenskyy staged a coup d'état for fear of losing the 2024 presidential elections and that Volodymyr Zelenskyy is a Western puppet.