Not everyone: the Council explained why Zelensky did not have a decree banning negotiations with Putin

Radio Liberty was aired by the question of Zelensky Decree No. 679, adopted in September 2022. The journalist wondered whether this decree could be "tore and thrown away", as the document seems to be forbidden to contact Putin, which is contrary to the possibility of meeting in Istanbul. In response, Merezhko explained that there is no contradiction and the head of the Ukrainian state can speak with the Kremlin head.

According to him, in this context, not only a decree but also a constitution should be guided. The People's Deputy recalled that the main law stated that the President "decides with whom negotiations, when, in what format. " "It is necessary to be guided by the Constitution of Ukraine, which has the highest legal force. It is clearly stated that negotiations are the prerogative of the President, it is his authority. It is a constitutional norm.

Because, by logic, the President could not prohibit himself with his decree not negotiating with Putin," said Neszhko. The head of the Foreign Policy Committee clarified which one is limited by the decree, the action of which, in his words, does not extend to Zelensky. Merezhko explained that in this way they wanted to stop other politicians who tried to contact the Kremlin.

The People's Deputy did not voice the names of politicians suspected of contacts with the Kremlin, as well as the political forces to which they belonged or belonged. "At that time, there was a need to ban such negotiations. We know that there were some politicians who went to Moscow and tried to negotiate there. In those specific conditions, the danger for the state had to be done," he summed up. On the portal, the President can find Decree No. 679, which forbids negotiations with Putin.

The Decree introduces the decision of the National Security Council of September 30, 2022, which is a response to Moscow's attempt to annex Ukrainian territory. "To state the impossibility of negotiating with the President of the Russian Federation V. Putin," the document reads. It was in the fall of 2022 that the Russian Federation conducted an illegal referendum on the occupied parts of Zaporizhzhya, Kherson, Luhansk and Donetsk regions, and then brought these lands into its constitution.

It should be noted that on the night of May 10, Russian President Vladimir Putin stated that he seemed to have agreed to go to direct and unconditional negotiations with Ukraine regarding the war. At the same time, the adviser of the Kremlin Ushakov in a comment to Roszma declared the condition of recognition of "territorial realities".