Vladimir Putin has suggested that Ukraine should temporarily be placed under UN control 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 – 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, prompting concerns that Moscow was trying to derail any moves towards a ceasefire.
Speaking to the crew of a nuclear-powered submarine in the far north Russian city of Murmansk, Putin said a temporary administration under the auspices of the UN could be discussed “with the United States, with European countries, and of course with our partners and friends”.
“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,” he added.
Moscow says the current Ukrainian authorities are illegitimate 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.
It would be almost impossible to hold a valid election with more than five million Ukrainian citizens displaced overseas and many hundreds of thousands 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’s spokesman Dmitry Peskov later attempted to clarify the remarks, saying they were in response to indications of a “loss of control” by Kyiv.
He also said that Ukraine’s armed forces were not obeying the leadership’s orders and were continuing to strike Russian energy installations, despite a moratorium on attacks on energy infrastructure agreed in talks with the US.
Ukraine has described Russian reports of such attacks as lies, while in its turn accusing Moscow of continuing to attack its own infrastructure.
Putin said that his proposal for a transitional government was only one of many options, but 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, saying 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 and “there are reasons to believe that we 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.
