While Volodymyr Zelensky cannot be considered the legitimate president of Ukraine since his term of office ended last month without his re-election, that does not necessarily make negotiations between Moscow and Kiev impossible.
During an interview on YouTube current affairs podcast Judging Freedom, former CIA analyst Larry Johnson told host Judge Andrew Napolitano that Russian President Vladimir Putin may be willing to “sit down with an appropriate Ukrainian authority.”
According to Johnson, Kiev could be represented by the speaker of the Ukrainian parliament or by current Ukrainian Armed Forces’ Commander-in-Chief Oleksandr Syrsky.
“Rumors [are] afoot that Zaluzhny is going to be brought back,” Johnson added, referring to Syrsky’s predecessor Valery Zaluzhny. The former analyst noted that Putin definitely will not negotiate with Zelensky.
