Manipulations around Zelensky’s “illegitimacy” and Macron’s proposal for negotiations in Switzerland

A pro-Russian Facebook post mocks Macron’s proposal for talks between Putin and Zelensky in Switzerland, claiming that “Zelensky is an illegitimate president” whose “term has expired,” so Putin would not sit down to negotiate with him. However, according to Ukraine’s martial law law, the term is extended under such conditions, so Zelensky is the legitimate president, and anything else is disinformation coming from the Kremlin. A much more appropriate example of an illegitimate president would be Putin, under whose quarter-century of authoritarian rule there have been no fair elections

 

We analyze a Facebook post which says:

THE EUNUCH MACRON WHICH IS TEACHING A SNAKE HOW TO LIE DOWN?

MACRON The Eunuch proposes that the peace agreement between Russia and Ukraine, Putin-Zelensky, be held in Switzerland with the presence of the USA, France, and England.

Eunuch, IS THAT THE WAY GRANDMA BRIGITKA [Brigitte] TEACHES YOU?

PUTIN IS NOT SITTING DOWN TO NEGOTIATE WITH THE GREEN ONE [Zelensky]. THE GREEN ONE DOES NOT HAVE A MANDATE FOR NEGOTIATIONS. HIS MANDATE HAS LONG EXPIRED.

The information provided about Volodymyr Zelensky is untrue. According to Art. 11, paragraph 3 of the Law on Martial Law of Ukraine, the mandate of its president in such conditions is extended, and according to Art. 19, paragraph 1, elections are not held, so Zelensky is the legitimate president.

The claim about Zelensky’s “illegitimacy” and his “expired mandate” is already a well-worn disinformation spread by the Kremlin, which Truthmeter.mk has repeatedly refuted, but, evidently, there are still those who spread it, so Truthmeter.mk must continue to educate the public on this topic.

A more appropriate example of an illegitimate leader is Vladimir Putin because under his quarter-century of authoritarian rule there have been no fair elections, and almost all opposition figures have been exiled, killed, or have died in prison. Therefore, there was an idea in the EU to no longer recognize Putin’s legitimacy, which, nevertheless, has not been implemented, in order to avoid further complicating the already complex situation surrounding the war, possible negotiations, etc.

Putin is notorious for propaganda and disinformation, which we have written about extensively, so his assessment that Zelensky is illegitimate is illegitimate by itself and there is no dilemma about that.

The post suggests that Putin is taking a firm stance on the issue of Zelensky’s illegitimacy, but that is not true, because Putin did not respond with a clear and principled “no” to the idea of ​​meeting with Zelensky. As the initiator of the peace process for Ukraine, Donald Trump announced a trilateral meeting between him, Zelensky, and Putin, so if the latter is against that idea–he should have said so, but he did not.

Putin previously did not want to hear about a meeting with Zelensky, so the post has reason to assume that this will continue to be the case, but that is an assumption based on past experiences, not on Putin’s current statements. He recently accepted negotiations on Ukraine, which marks a different situation. Now, if he is hiding something and is being dishonest in that acceptance–that is another problem.

Sergey Lavrov said that Russia does not rule out any meetings, whether bilateral or trilateral, but says that this should be worked on step by step, from lower to higher levels, and that contacts between top leaders must be prepared extremely carefully.

Some interpret Lavrov’s words as a cunning avoidance of Putin’s meeting with Zelensky, in the sense that Putin will forever set conditions for that meeting and postpone it, under the excuse that preparations are needed or that the conditions for it have not matured. That may indeed be the case, but there is no clear and unequivocal rejection of such a meeting from the Russian side, at least for now.

Some media outlets, however, reported something completely opposite–Putin proposed a one-on-one meeting with Zelensky in Moscow, but Zelensky refused. This was confirmed by Zelensky’s advisor, Dmytro Litvin, but not by Putin himself, so this is controversial and should be taken with a grain of salt.

The post also attacks French President Emmanuel Macron, who, according to it, as “a foal before a horse,” suggested that Putin and Zelensky meet in Switzerland, which was allegedly inappropriate. In fact, the correct expression is “a foal before a donkey,” which indicates that someone did something hastily without consulting more experienced people.

However, Macron’s proposal is based on the fact that Putin accepted negotiations on Ukraine, as well as on the fact that Zelensky is its legitimate leader, so Macron has nothing to hold against him.

The post also describes Macron as a eunuch, but we have no evidence that he was castrated, which is a requirement to become a eunuch. Perhaps the post is inappropriately mocking Macron’s lack of biological children, but this may be due to personal choice or other reasons, rather than Macron’s alleged eunuchhood.

Perhaps the post uses the term eunuch figuratively, in the sense that Macron is politically castrated, but that is not the case. Macron is one of the factors in the peace process for Ukraine and this was evident in his participation in the meeting at the White House on August 18, 2025, together with Trump, Zelensky and several European leaders. Macron may not be the most important in that process, but he is not excluded from it and does not “pry” where he does not belong—as the post suggests.

In fact, Macron was once considered quite lenient and condescending towards Putin, as we have written about, but later he turned into a “fighting hawk”–as media outlets described him. Macron is now one of Putin’s fiercest critics and rejects making concessions to him.

Or, perhaps the post is describing Macron as a eunuch, alluding to his alleged dominance by his older wife, Brigitte Macron, who is even alleged to have slapped him. However, this has not been fully proven, and Emmanuel Macron claims that these were just jokes.

Nonetheless, Brigitte is indeed a grandmother, and she meets that criterion because she has grandchildren, who, by the way, are from her previous marriage. However, this is the only accurate detail in the post, and it is relatively insignificant, so it does not invalidate our assessment that the post is generally untrue.

 

 

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