TALLINN, Estonia (AP) — Russian President Vladimir Putin visited his Belarusian counterpart and close ally for talks Friday in Minsk, after which he questioned whether Volodymyr Zelenskyy has the legitimacy to negotiate on behalf of Ukraine.
Russia is ready to hold talks on the war in Ukrainesaid Putin, but Zelenskyy’s five-year term was due to end on May 20.
However, Zelenskyy ruled out holding new presidential elections while his country is at war – something Putin apparently ignored in his statements to journalists.
Ukrainian law prohibits elections during martial law that has been in effect since Russia launched its invasion in February 2022. The country would have to change the law for elections during a state of war.
Russian authorities have repeatedly drawn attention to the issue of Zelenskyy’s tenure over the past week.
“Of course we are aware that the legitimacy of the current head of state has ended,” Putin said at a press conference in Minsk, following talks with Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko.
“We must be absolutely sure that we are dealing with legitimate authorities,” said Putin, who has repeatedly stated that Russia is ready for talks with Ukraine.
However, Zelenskyy rejected preconditions Russia put forward for the talks, including allowing Russia to retain territory that Kremlin forces have occupied since the February 2022 invasion.
An international peace conference on Ukraine will be held in Switzerland in June, but Russia was not invited and Putin has rejected the importance of the conference.
The two-day visit to Belarus was one of several foreign trips that Putin used to begin his fifth term. Since his inauguration on May 7, he also went to China and is expected in Uzbekistan on Sunday.
Russia and Belarus have increasingly close relations and plan to eventually form a so-called “union state”.
Lukashenko gave Moscow permission to send Russian tactical nuclear weapons and troops to Belarus, which shares a 1,084-kilometer (673-mile) border with Ukraine. In 2023, Russia transferred some of its tactical nuclear weapons to Belarus.
Unlike nuclear-tipped intercontinental ballistic missiles, which can destroy entire cities, tactical nuclear weapons intended for use against troops on the battlefield are less powerful. These weapons include aerial bombs, warheads for short-range missiles, and artillery rounds.
Deploying tactical nuclear weapons in Belarus would allow Russian aircraft and missiles to reach potential targets in Ukraine more easily and quickly, should Moscow decide to use them. It also expands Russia’s ability to target several NATO allies in Central and Eastern Europe.
Russia also used Belarus, which depends on Russian loans and cheap energy, as a staging ground for the war in Ukraine, moving some of its troops there.
The two countries began military exercises involving tactical nuclear weapons earlier this month.
Moscow said its drills, first publicly announced on May 6, were a response to statements by Western officials signaling possibly deeper involvement in the war in Ukraine. Training started this week.
Belarus launched its maneuvers involving missiles and warplanes capable of carrying tactical nuclear weapons on May 7th.
