RUSSIAN President Vladimir Putin put forward a scheme today for Ukraine to be placed under United Nations control.

In televised remarks to the crew of a Russian nuclear submarine, Mr Putin repeated his claim that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky lacks the legitimacy to sign a peace deal.

Mr Zelensky’s term would have expired last year, but Kiev has postponed elections due to the war.

The Russian leader said that any agreement signed with the current Ukrainian government could be challenged by its successors and proposed that new elections could be held under external governance.

“Under the auspices of the UN, with the United States, even with European countries and, of course, with our partners and friends, we could discuss the possibility of introducing temporary governance in Ukraine,” he said.

Mr Putin added that it would allow the country to “hold democratic elections, to bring to power a viable government that enjoys the trust of the people and then begin negotiations with them on a peace treaty.”

The White House said Ukraine’s government was a matter for its people, while Ukraine said the “crazy” proposal was a way of stalling and avoiding committing to a ceasefire.

Mr Putin’s remarks came hours after the conclusion of a summit hosted by French President Emmanuel Macron that considered plans to deploy troops to Ukraine to police any peace deal.

Mr Macron said that, along with France and Britain, several other nations want to be part of the force, though the US says it will not support it. Poland and Germany have ruled out sending troops.

Russia has warned that it won’t accept any deployment by Nato member states in Ukraine as part of a peace agreement.

Mr Macron and other participants in Thursday’s summit in Paris accused Russia of only pretending to want a negotiated settlement.

Russia and Ukraine have agreed to a tentative US-brokered deal to pause strikes on energy infrastructure, but they quickly accused each other of violations, highlighting the challenges to negotiating a broader peace.

The Russian Defence Ministry said that Ukrainian forces had struck a gas-metering station in Sudzha in the Kursk region with US-made rockets, completely destroying the facility. 

The ministry added that another Ukrainian strike on an energy facility in Russia’s Bryansk region had led to a power cut, and that air defences had downed 19 Ukrainian drones aimed at  striking an oil refinery in Saratov.

The Ukrainian air force accused Russia of launching 163 strike and decoy drones at Ukraine on Thursday evening. 

Kiev said 89 of the Russian projectiles had been shot down and 51 more jammed.