Vladimir Putin says UN should run a government in Ukraine

Vladimir Putin on Friday, March 28, 2025, suggested that Ukraine should temporarily be placed under UN control.

BBC disclosed this, stating that Putin’s suggestion is for the UN to elect what he called a more “competent” government.

It is the latest attempt by the Russian president to challenge the legitimacy of the Kyiv government.

Ukraine accused Putin of proposing “crazy” ideas to delay further movement towards a peace deal.

The peace deal is being championed by US President Donald Trump.

The White House insisted Ukraine’s governance would be decided by its constitution and people.

Putin’s remarks come as the US seeks to broker a ceasefire in the full-scale war with Ukraine, now into its fourth year.

On Tuesday the White House said the two sides had agreed to a limited truce in the Black Sea.

But Russia then put forward a list of conditions including lifting of some Western sanctions.

This prompted concerns that Moscow was trying to derail any moves towards a ceasefire.

Putin said a temporary administration under the auspices of the UN could be discussed “with the United States.

He said European countries, and of course with their partners and friends should be part of the discussion.

Putin made this comment while speaking to the crew of a nuclear-powered submarine in the far north Russian city of Murmansk.

He added:

“This would be in order to hold democratic elections, to bring to power a capable government trusted by the people and then to begin with it talks on a peace agreement and sign legitimate documents.”

Moscow says the current Ukrainian authorities are illegitimate.

This is as President Volodymyr Zelensky has stayed in power beyond the end of his term and is therefore not a valid negotiating partner.

But Zelensky has stayed because elections have been put on hold, legally by martial law and practically by the chaos of war.

Analysts say it would be almost impossible to hold a valid election with more than five million Ukrainian citizens displaced overseas.

Many hundreds of thousands of the Ukrainian citizens are away from home fighting on the frontline.

By calling for an election, Putin is trying to raise doubts that President Zelensky is a legitimate interlocutor in any peace talks.

The White House has already echoed this narrative.

And if Putin succeeded in forcing an election, he may hope this would both divide and distract Ukraine while he made gains on the battlefield.

Putin said that this proposal was only one of many options.

He however pointed out that there were international precedents for UN control such as East Timor and parts of the former Yugoslavia.

Zelensky’s chief of staff Andriy Yermak responded to Putin’s remarks.

Yermak said Russia was trying to stall movements towards peace and had chosen to continue the war.

Meanwhile a US national security spokesperson told Reuters news agency that governance in Ukraine was determined by the constitution and the people.

At the same meeting, the Russian leader said that Moscow had the “strategic initiative” all along the front line in the war.

He suggested that there are reasons to believe that they can finish off Ukrainian forces.

But despite frequent proclamations of progress in the fighting, Russia has made only very slow and limited progress in gaining territory in eastern Ukraine.

Putin’s comments come after a meeting on Thursday between Zelensky and European allies in Paris.

French President Emmanuel Macron said that France and the UK were putting forward plans for a reassurance force” in Ukraine.

Russia launched a full-scale invasion of its neighbour in February 2022.

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