Putin prepared to meet Zelenskiy but legitimacy an issue, Lavrov says

By Guy Faulconbridge and Dmitry Antonov

MOSCOW (Reuters) -Russian President Vladimir Putin is prepared to meet Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy but all issues must be worked through first and there's a question about Zelenskiy's authority to sign a peace deal, Putin's foreign minister said on Thursday.

Putin and U.S. President Donald Trump met on Friday in Alaska for the first Russia-U.S. summit in more than four years and the two leaders discussed how to end the deadliest war in Europe since World War Two.

After his summit talks in Alaska, Trump said on Monday he had begun arranging a meeting between the Russian and Ukrainian leaders, to be followed by a trilateral summit with the U.S. president.

Asked by reporters if Putin was willing to meet Zelenskiy, Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said: "Our president has repeatedly said that he is ready to meet, including with Mr. Zelenskiy".

Lavrov, though, added a caveat: "With the understanding that all issues that require consideration at the highest level will be well worked out, and experts and ministers will prepare appropriate recommendations.

"And, of course, with the understanding that when and if - hopefully, when - it comes to signing future agreements, the issue of the legitimacy of the person who signs these agreements from the Ukrainian side will be resolved," Lavrov said.

Putin has repeatedly raised doubts about Zelenskiy's legitimacy as his term in office was due to expire in May 2024 but the war means no new presidential election has yet been held. Kyiv says Zelenskiy remains the legitimate president.

Russian officials say they are worried that if Zelenskiy signs the deal then a future leader of Ukraine could contest it on the basis that Zelenskiy's term had technically expired.

Zelenskiy said this week Kyiv would like a "strong reaction" from Washington if Putin were not willing to sit down for a bilateral meeting with him.

WAR OR PEACE?

European leaders say they are sceptical that Putin is really interested in peace, but are searching for a credible way to ensure Ukraine's security as part of a potential peace deal with minimal U.S. involvement.

Lavrov said it was clear that neither Ukraine nor European leaders wanted peace. He accused the so-called "coalition of the willing" - which includes major European powers such as Britain, France, Germany and Italy - of trying to undermine the progress made in Alaska.

"They are not interested in a sustainable, fair, long-term settlement," Lavrov said of Ukraine. He said the Europeans were interested in achieving the strategic defeat of Russia.

"European countries followed Mr. Zelenskiy to Washington and tried to advance their agenda there, which aims to ensure that security guarantees are based on the logic of isolating Russia," Lavrov said, referring to Monday's gathering of Trump, Zelenskiy and the leaders of major European powers at the White House.

Lavrov said the best option for a security guarantee for Ukraine would be based on discussions that took place between Moscow and Kyiv in Istanbul in 2022.

Under a draft of that document which Reuters has seen, Ukraine was asked to agree to permanent neutrality in return for international security guarantees from the five permanent members of the U.N. Security Council: Britain, China, France, Russia and the United States.

Any attempts to depart from the failed Istanbul discussions would be hopeless, Lavrov said.

At the time, Kyiv rejected that proposal on the grounds that Moscow would have held effective veto power over any military response to come to its aid.

(Reporting by Dmitry Antonov; writing by Lucy Papachristou; editing by Andrew Osborn and Mark Heinrich)