Zelenskyy proposes meeting Putin in person in sharply worded open letter. The reply was shorter

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has proposed a meeting with his Russian counterpart to negotiate an end to the war face to face.

In a rare open letter to President Vladimir Putin, Zelenskyy renewed his appeal for “direct engagement,” acknowledging the U.S. has become “fully focused on the issue of Iran.”

In the letter, Zelenskyy said he was ready for a “full ceasefire” and “all-for-all exchange of prisoners of war” ahead of in-person negotiations. He also called for the return of Ukrainian civilians and children who have been taken during the war.

At times combative in tone, Zelenskyy cashed in on recent Ukraine’s battlefield successes and reproached his foe’s time in power.

“Yes, you can still force Russians to exist this way. But your resources are shrinking significantly ,” he wrote. “You will not have enough money or political capital to keep buying the loyalty of Russians the way you have for the past 26 years.”

Zelenskyy’s letter said the meeting would have to take place in a neutral country. Any peace deal would have to involve Europe and the U.S., which would “monitor a ceasefire along the line where hostilities stop,” he added.

“We in Ukraine do not want a permanent war. We know very well that life without war is infinitely better. And we want to achieve that,” Zelenskyy wrote.

Zelenskyy, who has previously said that the war is “all about the land,” rejected the idea of giving up more territory as part of a deal. “The front line today is the line from which diplomacy must begin,” he wrote.

Putin rebuffed Zelenskyy’s request on Friday. Speaking at St. Petersburg International Economic Forum, he said: “I see no sense” in a meeting. Putin said he skimmed over the letter, noting that it came across as rude.

“Is it a way to create conditions for a personal meeting and negotiations, or is it creating an environment in which it’s impossible to hold any personal meetings at all? I think it’s the latter,” he said, according to Bloomberg .

Zelenskyy has rejected a peace proposal reached by Putin and U.S. President Donald Trump in Alaska last year, which required Ukraine to give up land to end the conflict.

“You can see for yourself that Ukrainian and European issues are not decided in Anchorage,” Zelenskyy wrote in the letter. Previous trilateral talks in Istanbul, Abu Dhabi and Geneva have failed. Neither leader participated in the talks and have not met face to face since the war began in February 2022.

On Thursday, Trump told reporters he was in support of Putin and Zelenskyy brokering peace directly.

“I’m glad that they’re maybe talking about meeting, I think we had a lot to do with it,” Trump said from the Oval Office. “But I think it would be great if they met, they should get it done.”

Zelenskyy cited Ukrainian figures that say more than 30,000 Russian soldiers were killed or seriously wounded in May.

“We have been maintaining that level month after month, and we have video confirmation of every one of your losses — these are not empty claims,” he said. “In the 21st century, no army can afford such a ratio. And the share of those killed will continue to grow.”

Long-range Ukrainian drones have also brought the war into Russian soil, Zelenskyy noted, dragging Russian civilians into the war, which Putin has tried to avoid. “They do not like our drones and missiles,” he wrote.

Putin addressed the matter speaking to reporters on Wednesday. “To our regret, some of them break through,” he said of the strikes, according to a translation by the Associated Press. “Russia has an air defence system, we need to improve it, strengthen it, and we will do that.”

Talks have stalled since late February as the U.S. is increasingly preoccupied with the Iran war.

The letter could help talks resume, but a peace deal won’t be immediate, said Alex Kokcharov, geoeconomics analyst at Bloomberg Economics.

“Zelenskyy is using Ukraine’s improved battlefield position to push for talks, while Putin still appears to view diplomacy as a way to secure Russian territorial gains and gain time,” he said .

The more likely outcome is intensified coercive bargaining, with more long-range strikes, Russian air attacks, and pressure on both sides’ domestic and external support bases, he said.

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