Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Thursday called for face-to-face negotiations in a public letter addressed directly to Russian President Vladimir Putin.
The letter, the first public letter Zelenskyy has written directly to Putin since Russia launched its full-scale invasion in 2022, was a sweeping critique of the Russian leader's 26 years in power.
Zelenskyy acknowledged shifting U.S. priorities, saying it would be wrong to simply wait for the Trump administration to return its attention to ending the Ukraine war while it remains heavily focused on the Iran war.
"I am proposing a meeting," Zelenskyy wrote.
He appeared to be trying to seize a pivotal moment in the war, as Ukraine has begun to regain some battlefield leverage largely through improved long-range strike capabilities that have complicated Russia's advances.
