Putin: Russia would not deny political asylum to Zelensky if he asked for it

Russia does not refuse asylum to anyone and may consider granting it to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, Russian leader Vladimir Putin said his Q&A conference on December 19.

Photo: president.gov.ua by PRESIDENT OF UKRAINE VOLODYMYR ZELENSKYY Official website, https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Volodymyr Zelensky

"If he, excuse me, suddenly, like a jack-in-the-box, appeared somewhere and said that he would need political asylum — Russia does not refuse anyone,” Putin said.

Putin's comment came in response to a question of whether Russia could grant political asylum to Ukrainian President Zelensky if he asked for it.

This could be possible, the Russian president said noting that Zelensky would most likely seek asylum in Western countries. The West is ready to take Zelensky into its custody, Putin added.