Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky called on Russian President Vladimir Putin to end the war, in an open letter posted as the Russian leader was speaking to the media at the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum. It comes a day after Ukrainian strikes on the Russian city.
“We can all see that Russians are finally becoming less comfortable with this reality — with the fact that the war is bringing more and more negative consequences to Russia,” Zelensky wrote. “They do not like the fact that there is no end in sight to your war.”
The Ukrainian leader said Putin “regularly” postpones deadlines to capture Ukrainian regions, specifically Donetsk.
“And you will not capture it this year either,” he said.
Zelensky called for a direct meeting with Putin to end the war and stressed that peace shouldn’t wait until the US turned its attention from Iran to the Ukraine-Russia war.
“We see that the United States is fully focused on the issue of Iran, and it would be wrong to simply wait until the war in Europe returns to the center of its attention,” Zelensky said.
“Ukraine proposes ending this war through direct engagement between us — and you. I am proposing a meeting,” he wrote, adding that it should take place in a third country and that a clear date should be set. During those meetings, Zelensky said a full ceasefire needs to be in place.
“An attempt to establish real silence is the best way to begin talking to one another.”
The Kremlin has seen Zelensky’s letter and Putin will be briefed on it, Russian state outlet TASS cited Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov as saying. He also said that if Zelensky wants to meet Putin, “he can come to Moscow.”
Zelensky reiterated in the letter that him traveling to the Russian capital is a non-starter.
Meanwhile in St. Petersburg, Putin said proposals made by US President Donald Trump to end the war could “be the basis” for peace agreements but would require compromise from both countries.
“We generally agreed to these compromises. We just need to convince the Ukrainian side of this, and that’s it,” he said. “But overall, I believe they could very well be the basis for agreements between Russia and Ukraine and could put an end to this conflict.” (CNN)
