Legitimacy of signatory from Kiev must be settled when it comes to signing deal — Lavrov

The issue of the legitimacy of the signatory from the Ukrainian side will need to be resolved in the event of reaching an agreement with Kiev, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov told a news conference following talks with Indian Foreign Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar.

"Our president [Vladimir Putin] has repeatedly said that he is ready to meet, including with Mr. [Vladimir] Zelensky, provided that all issues that require consideration at the highest level will be well-developed, and experts and government ministers will prepare appropriate recommendations. And, of course, on the condition that when, I hope, it comes to signing future agreements, the issue of the legitimacy of the person who will sign these agreements for the Ukrainian side will be resolved," Lavrov noted.

In the meantime, as he recalled, Zelensky has not canceled his own decree of three years ago, which directly prohibits negotiations with Putin.

"And clearly, his activity on the subject of organizing a summit with the Russian leader is aimed at showing his supposedly constructive focus on the settlement process, but in reality – simply replacing serious, difficult, hard work on agreeing on the principles of a sustainable resolution of the crisis with cheap comedy show tricks," Lavrov summarized.