Putin says Russia benefits from keeping Zelenskyy in power, even though his rating is allegedly lower than Zaluzhnyi's

Vladimir Putin, photo: Getty Images

In an interview with Russian journalists, Kremlin leader Vladimir Putin said that the rating of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is allegedly twice as low as that of the former Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine Valeriy Zaluzhnyi.

Meduza writes about this.

According to him, Volodymyr Zelenskyy has no chance of winning the election.

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«It doesn't matter what his rating is: four per cent or whatever. His rating is twice as low as Zaluzhnyi's,» Putin said.

He also said that he was allegedly not against «preserving Ukraine's statehood», but that he believed it was important that the country «not be used to threaten Moscow». At the same time, the Russian leader called Zelenskyy «a toxic figure for Ukraine».

«He has driven himself into a dead end by banning negotiations with Russia. He is avoiding negotiations because otherwise he will have to lift martial law and go straight to the polls. We are interested in Zelenskyy remaining in power — he is decomposing the regime,» the Russian president said.

Earlier, Donald Trump said that Volodymyr Zelenskyy's approval rating was only 4% and called for elections. In response, the Ukrainian leader cited the results of a poll by the Kyiv International Institute of Sociology, according to which 57% of citizens trust him. Volodymyr Zelenskyy called the 4% claim Russian disinformation and noted that Donald Trump, unfortunately, lives in this disinformation space».

We would like to remind you that Vladimir Putin has previously stated that he is ready «to allocate people» to negotiate with Ukraine to end the war. At the same time, he called any such talks «illegitimate».