German Foreign Minister says Berlin has no concerns over Zelenskyy's legitimacy as president

Annalena Baerbock, Federal Minister for Foreign Affairs of Germany, has stressed that her government has no concerns over the legitimacy of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy even though Ukraine cannot hold presidential elections under martial law.

Baerbock said during a joint press conference with Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba that Ukraine does not want to have its territory occupied and wants to live freely, and the only person who opposes this is Russian leader Vladimir Putin, who has invaded Ukraine and is therefore making it impossible to hold the elections.

"It’s clear that Volodymyr Zelenskyy is the legitimate president of Ukraine. We will solve the challenges we’re facing together," Baerbock said and promised to support the reforms Ukraine is currently implementing.

Baerbock also said that not just the Ukrainian Constitution, but the constitutions of many other countries, including Germany, stipulate that elections cannot be held under martial law.

"It’s a lowly game: those who have started this war and made elections impossible are now spreading the narrative that the president is not legitimate, because he has not been reelected," Baerbock said.

The European Commission has responded to the claims of Russian propaganda that Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s presidency is illegitimate since his five-year presidential term ends on 21 May 2024, saying that Ukraine cannot hold free elections because it is under attack by Russian missiles, drones and bombs, and millions of people have been displaced inside the country and outside its borders.

American special services have said that Russia has intensified its efforts of disinformation over the past few months in order to discredit Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and call his legitimacy into question.