After Humanitarian Issues, Ukraine Plans to Proceed to Talks Between Leaders

Ukraine Plans to Proceed to Talks Between Leaders

After humanitarian issues, Ukraine plans to proceed to talks between the leaders, Ukraine's Defense Minister Rustem Umerov said speaking about negotiations with Russia.

“In the near future, additional clarifications will be provided regarding the progress of negotiations and the format of their continuation. Ukraine expects a substantive dialogue,” the Ukrainian Defense Minister said.

Other key statements by the Defense Minister:

  • The issue of lowering the mobilization age is not under consideration. Units staffed with contract soldiers aged 18–24 have shown high effectiveness.
  • As of today, over 50% of the fortification work planned for this year has been completed. In addition, the Ministry of Defense has introduced a new model of fortifications — compact strongpoints with mandatory protection against drones. The defenses are being adapted to the specifics of each front.
  • North Korea has reportedly deployed around 11,000 “elite troops” to the war against Ukraine. These troops were selected from Kim Jong Un’s estimated 50,000-man "personal reserve." The units are said to have already suffered significant losses.

Putin Ready to Hold Meeting with Zelensky

On June 19, Russian President Vladimir Putin stated his readiness to meet “with everyone, including” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. He made this comment during a meeting with heads of international news agencies at the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum.

“The issue isn’t about that. If the Ukrainian state trusts someone to negotiate—by all means, let it be Zelensky. That’s not the issue. The issue is who will sign the document,” Putin said. “Look, I didn’t make this up. From a propaganda point of view, people can say whatever they want about the legitimacy of the current authorities. But when it comes to resolving serious issues, what matters is not propaganda, but legal legitimacy.”

Referring to the Ukrainian Constitution, Putin emphasized that the president is elected for a five-year term and that “there is no provision for extending presidential powers, not even under martial law.” According to him, during martial law, only the powers of the Verkhovna Rada (Ukraine’s parliament) are extended.

“It says that elections are not held during martial law, which is true. But nowhere does it say that the president’s powers are extended. No, that’s it!” Putin said. “According to its constitutional structure, Ukraine is not a purely parliamentary or presidential republic—it is a presidential-parliamentary one. This means all branches of power are formed by the president,” he added. Therefore, if the head of state is illegitimate, “the entire system of power becomes illegitimate,” Putin concluded.

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Author`s name Pavel Morozov
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Editor Dmitry Sudakov
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