Putin calls for temporary UN-led administration of Ukraine to end war

Vladimir Putin has called for the creation of a temporary UN-supervised administration in Ukraine charged with holding elections and overseeing the transfer of power to a “capable government” with which Russia would be willing to negotiate an end to the war.

Speaking to sailors aboard a nuclear submarine in the city of Murmansk in Russia’s Arctic region on Thursday, Putin said that an interim government in Ukraine “under the auspices of the UN, US, and with European countries” as well as with Russia’s “partners and friends” would help to facilitate democratic elections and “bring to power a capable government trusted by the people”.

Saying that Russian forces held the “strategic initiative” along the frontline in Ukraine and would soon “finish off” the Ukrainian army, Putin claimed groundlessly that Russia was unable to negotiate a peace deal with the current leadership in Kyiv due to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky being “illegitimate” and “neo-Nazi formations” such as the Azov Brigade “effectively starting to govern Ukraine”.

If Zelensky were replaced by a new government elected under UN auspices, Russia would work with it to “start negotiations on a peace treaty” to end the war, Putin added.

The Kremlin has frequently attempted to paint Zelensky as an illegitimate leader due to the expiration of his presidential term last year, despite the fact that the Ukrainian Constitution prohibits the holding of elections while the country is under martial law, which it has been since Russia launched its full-scale invasion in 2022. Zelensky has repeatedly promised to hold elections as soon as the war is over.

Responding to Putin’s comments later on Thursday, an unnamed White House National Security Council spokesperson told Reuters that governance in Ukraine was “determined by its constitution and the people of the country”.

While Russia and Ukraine ostensibly agreed to a US-proposed ceasefire in the Black Sea earlier this week, the Kremlin subsequently said it would only adhere to the truce on the condition that certain financial sanctions on Russia’s agricultural sector were lifted.

European leaders rejected that demand at a summit of Ukraine’s allies in Paris on Thursday, with British Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer stressing after the meeting that “now is not the time for lifting of sanctions” on Russia.

“Quite the contrary, what we discussed is how we can increase sanctions to support the US initiative, to bring Russia to the table through further pressure from this group of countries,” Starmer said.