The European Union reported that it did not reach a consensus among its 27 member states to stop recognizing Vladimir Putin as the “president” of Russia.
According to European Pravda, Peter Stano, spokesperson for the EU’s External Action Service said that the EU as such does not have the power to recognize or not recognize someone’s authority.”
“Traditionally, it is up to the member states to make such a decision,” Stano said.
On 7 May Russia held an inauguration ceremony for Vladimir Putin. Ukrainian Ministry of Defense claimed that it is an attempt to create an illusion of legitimacy for Putin’s nearly lifelong hold on power.
Russia held a “presidential election” on 15-17 March in which incumbent President Vladimir Putin predictably secured his fifth term.
Fraud, coercion, 90%+ for Putin: how Russia staged a sham election in occupied Ukraine
The EU representative said that if all 27 member countries unanimously said that they did not recognize the legitimacy of a country’s representative, as they had done in the case of Syria’s leader Assad, or the dictator in Belarus Lukashenko, then the EU could take that position.
He assured that there is no EU-wide position agreed by the 27 countries stating that the EU does not see Putin as the legitimate representative of Russia.
“The fact is that he sits in the Kremlin, and from the Kremlin, he is leading the most violent and brutal aggression in modern European history, the aggression against Ukraine,” Stano said.
The EU spokesperson noted that the bloc had expressed a consensus position on the so-called “presidential elections” in Russia in a statement on 18 March, agreed upon by all 27 member states.
The EU criticized the Russian “elections” as being held with numerous restrictions, without the participation of real opposition, and conducted in Russian-occupied territories of Ukraine.
Stano assured that this EU position does not affect on the EU’s position of supporting Ukraine.
Read also: