Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has issued a public letter directly addressed to Russian President Vladimir Putin, calling for face-to-face negotiations to end the war. The letter, the first of its kind since Russia's full-scale invasion in 2022, suggests a meeting in a neutral third country, ruling out Kyiv or Moscow as venues.
Zelenskyy proposed Switzerland, Turkey, or Arab states as possible hosts. He wrote that leaders must resolve key issues and urged setting a clear date for such a meeting. The Ukrainian leader accused Moscow of planning to prolong the conflict into 2027–2028 and of relying increasingly on ballistic missile strikes to compensate for ground campaign failures.
Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said Putin was aware of the message but had not yet examined its details. Peskov reiterated that Zelenskyy could come to Moscow if he wanted talks. Putin, speaking at the St Petersburg International Economic Forum, said Russia was open to compromise based on understandings reached at his summit with former US President Donald Trump in Anchorage, Alaska.
Trump commented from the White House that a Zelenskyy-Putin meeting would be 'great' but stressed that both sides must make compromises. He suggested he had played a role in encouraging the talks. Meanwhile, the US House of Representatives passed a Democrat-sponsored bill providing over $1 billion in security and reconstruction aid for Ukraine, with another $8 billion available via loans, overriding Republican objections.
Zelenskyy acknowledged shifting US priorities and said Ukraine could not simply wait for the Trump administration to refocus on the war. He argued that Ukraine had regained battlefield leverage through improved long-range strike capabilities, while Russia intensified its aerial campaign to exploit Kyiv's shortages and vulnerability to ballistic missile attacks.
