Poutine suggests putting Ukraine under external governance sponsored by non

Russian President Vladimir Putin proposed on Friday to temporarily put Ukraine under external governance in the context of efforts to achieve peaceful regulations, in remarks which reflected the determination of the leader of the Kremlin to achieve his war objectives.

In television remarks broadcast early Friday, Putin reaffirmed his assertion that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, whose mandate expired last year, has no legitimacy to sign a peace agreement. Under the Constitution of Ukraine, it is illegal for the country to hold national elections while it is under martial law.

Putin said that any agreement signed with the current Ukrainian government could be challenged by his successors and said new elections may be held under external governance.

“Under the Auspices of the United Nations, with the United States, even with European countries, and, of course, with our partners and friends, we could discuss the possibility of introducing temporary governance in Ukraine,” said Putin. He added that this would allow the country to “keep democratic elections, to put in power a viable government which enjoys the confidence of the people, then to start negotiations with them on a peace treaty.”

He said that such external governance is only “one of the options”, without developing.

The spokesman for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine, Heorhii Tykhyi, retaliated on X, suggesting a “temporary governance of the United Nations in Russia”, saying that “the inhabitants would greatly benefit from all governance other than Putin, who spends billions of dollars to his criminal war against Ukraine”.

‘They play for time’

Putin’s remarks occurred a few hours after the end of a summit organized by French President Emmanuel Macron who planned to deploy troops in Ukraine to consolidate a possible peace agreement. Macron said that “several” other nations wanted to be part of the force alongside France and Great Britain.

Russia has warned that it would not accept any troop of NATO members as part of a potential peacekeeping force.

Macron and other participants from the Paris Summit accused Russia on Thursday of pretending to want a negotiated regulation.

“They play games and they play for the time,” said British Prime Minister Keir Starmer.

Zelenskyy praised the outcome of the meeting, affirming in the declaration of Friday that “Europe definitively knows how to defend itself, and we work together to ensure greater security for our country and all European nations”.

Russia and Ukraine have accepted a provisional agreement in the United States to suspend strikes on energy infrastructure, but quickly accused each other of violations, stressing the challenges to negotiate a broader peace.

Drone attacks continue

Russia launched 163 drones to Ukraine on Thursday evening, according to the Ukrainian Air Force, who said that 89 of them had been slaughtered and 51 others blocked.

Drones have damaged several residential buildings and injured a 19 -year -old in Zaporizhzhia, said regional chief Ivan Fedorov. Damage to buildings and infrastructure facilities have also been reported by the authorities of the Poltava, Odesa, Kharkiv, Dnipro and Mykolav regions.

The state of state of state of Ukraine, Naftogaz, said on Friday that its facilities were part of the Russian fire.

The Russian Defense Ministry said Ukrainian forces had struck a gas measurement station in Sudzha in the Kursk region with American manufacturing rockets, completely destroying the installation. He said another Ukrainian strike on an energy installation in the Russian Bryansk region led to a power outage and added that the air defenses had shot 19 Ukrainian drones that tried to hit an oil refinery in Saratov.

The ministry said that strikes show that kyiv’s commitment to a judgment on strikes on energy facilities was only “other Zelenskyy ruse to prevent the collapse of the Ukrainian defenses and to restore military potential with the help of European allies”.

Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said in a conference call with journalists that Ukrainian strikes on Russian energy assets said Zelenskyy could not control his soldiers.

He declared that Russia will continue to stick to the stops on the energy facilities, but reserves the right to withdraw from the agreement if the violations continue.

“ Adhering strictly to agreements ”

The Ukrainian army rejected Russia’s claims on Ukrainian strikes on energy facilities and false, aimed at “discrediting Ukraine” and its diplomatic efforts.

The general staff said that the Ukrainian defense forces “adhere strictly to agreements”, stressing that the military only achieved the military objectives of Russia.

He also accused Russia of hitting energy infrastructure in the city of Kherson and the Poltava region in Ukraine in the past 24 hours.

“Russian tactics to drag the war remains unchanged,” said Ukraine’s staff.

While Ukraine has accepted a full 30-day ceasefire that US President Donald Trump has proposed, Putin made a complete conditional cease-fire to a stop of arms supplies in Kyiv and a suspension of Ukraine’s military mobilization-requests rejected by Ukraine and its Western allies.

Russian battlefield gains

The Russian troops produced slow but regular gains in several sectors of the first line of more than 620 miles, and Zelenskyy warned Thursday that Russia was trying to drag the talks in preparation for larger offensives.

Putin said in remarks overnight that Russian troops “vaulted” and “hold a strategic initiative throughout contact”.

He noted that Russia is open to a peaceful regulation, but underlined the need to “remove the deep causes that led to the current situation”.

Putin demanded that Kyiv withdraw her forces from the four regions that Moscow has partially seized. He also wants Ukraine to renounce the membership of NATO, suddenly cut off his army and legally protect the Russian language and culture to keep the country on the orbit of Moscow.

Russian officials have also said that any peace potential agreement should involve the disgusting of Russian assets in the West and raising American and European Union sanctions. The Trump administration said it was considering a potential relief of sanctions.

Originally published: March 28, 2025 at 10:35 a.m.