Vladimir Putin has rejected an offer from Ukraine’s Volodymyr Zelenskyy to hold a face-to-face meeting, insisting instead that Russia will achieve its war goals in Ukraine, including seizing all of the eastern Donbas region. Speaking at a St Petersburg economic forum, the Russian president described an open letter from his Ukrainian counterpart containing the offer as rude. He refused to use Zelenskyy’s name, referring to him only as its author, and said he saw “no point” in meeting Zelenskyy.
Zelenskyy’s letter, which was published on Thursday, proposed a meeting in a third country such as Switzerland or Turkey. It said diplomacy should start from the current frontline and that Ukraine was ready for a full ceasefire while negotiations took place.
Putin has shrugged off embarrassing drone strikes by Ukraine on his home city of St Petersburg during this week’s economic forum, and said his territorial demands on Ukraine were unchanged. He said Russia controlled all of the Luhansk region – a claim Kyiv denies – and more than 85% of Donetsk region. He repeated his demand that Ukraine also give up all of Kherson and Zaporizhzhia regions.
Zelenskyy said Putin’s rejection showed the Kremlin had no wish to end the conflict. “Unfortunately, the Russian side is once again choosing war. Everyone heard the response. A weak response,” he said in his nightly video address. “I think this response will have disappointed many in the world.”
