The Russian president makes his plans clear: “Kiev under UN administration.” Then he orders “elections” and clarifies: “The Ukrainians? We will eliminate them.” Condemnation from Guterres
After invading Ukraine, Vladimir Putin has also decided to give himself the right to say who should govern the country he invaded. Speaking to sailors on a nuclear-powered submarine, and of course in front of his propaganda cameras, the Russian president floated the idea of Ukraine being governed by a “transitional administration” under the auspices of the UN. He then delivered a message that, unfortunately, does not sound like a peace signal: “There is reason to assume that we will eliminate” Ukrainian forces, he declared, claiming that Russian troops retain “the strategic initiative along the entire front line.”
Putin presented the proposal for a “transitional administration” of Ukraine, choosing his words carefully. The very same one who suppresses any form of dissent and has turned Russia into a dictatorship, declared that this solution would allow for “democratic” elections and the birth of a new Ukrainian government with which to “start negotiations” for peace. But the suggestion seems to have already been rejected by both the UN secretary-general and the White House. Putin’s statements clearly indicate an attempt to delegitimize Zelensky as an interlocutor. Putin – who has never liked Ukraine’s turn to the West after the Maidan uprising – claims that Zelensky is not a legitimate president because elections were not held in Ukraine last year. But if Ukrainians were unable to go to the polls, it is because martial law is in force, preventing them.
And this martial law was imposed precisely because Putin invaded the country. Then come the baseless accusations of “Nazism” that the Kremlin directs at the Kiev government. Among the justifications with which the Putin regime tries to justify this unjustifiable war is precisely that of “denazifying” Ukraine: an objective that is based on a lie and that serves Moscow to present the armed aggression against Ukraine as a defensive war.
And to compare its soldiers with the Soviet ones who fought against the Nazi troops. Thus, he emphasized that “even after the beginning of the new world order, Moscow nevertheless offered to resolve all issues peacefully.” “Under the auspices of the United Nations, with the United States, and with European countries, and, of course, with our partners and friends, we can discuss the possibility of creating an interim government in Ukraine,” Putin declared. “Ukraine has a legitimate government and it must be respected,” UN Secretary-General Guterres responded, according to Interfax-Ukraine.
Was Putin seeking support from the Americans? It’s hard to say. Of course, a month ago Trump called Zelensky “a dictator who was never elected,” repeating a formula beloved of Moscow’s propaganda. But according to Reuters, a spokesman for the White House National Security Council immediately replied to Putin that it is the Ukrainian Constitution that determines the government in Ukraine. Even the Trump administration – which is already drawing Washington closer and closer to the Kremlin – seems to have rejected Putin’s proposal. Even more categorical was the direct “no” from the interested party, Zelensky, who accused the Kremlin leader of, with his statements, intending to prolong the war.
Meanwhile, Russia and Ukraine continue to accuse each other of violating an agreement aimed at stopping attacks on energy infrastructure. An agreement that, if implemented, could end the bombing of the Ukrainian power grid by Russian forces, leaving people in the dark and cold in the middle of winter. But also the Ukrainian drone attacks on Russian refineries. If Ukraine “does not respect the ban” on hitting energy infrastructure, “the Russian side reserves the right not to respect it,” the Kremlin has declared.
The other general agreement that emerged from the Riyadh talks in recent days is that on the safety of navigation in the Black Sea: an agreement about which, according to the Kremlin, Putin and Erdogan spoke on the phone yesterday, while Ankara says that the Turkish president has expressed his willingness to wait for possible peace negotiations. Regarding the agreement on the Black Sea, Moscow nevertheless demands the lifting of some sanctions and today has lashed out at European countries for their “no”, accusing them of not wanting to “follow the path of peace”. Putin speaks in favor of “peaceful solutions” but “not at the expense of Russia”, he claims. And meanwhile he does not seem ready to take steps back on the occupied Ukrainian territories. A Ukrainian and American proposal for a “complete” ceasefire for at least 30 days is still on his table, but the Russian president, for its implementation, has set a series of conditions. And in the meantime the war continues with all its ferocity.
