Zelenskyy proposes direct talks with Putin and a full ceasefire as U.S. lawmakers back $8 billion in Ukraine loans and Russia sanctions.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy published an open letter to Russian President Vladimir Putin on June 4 proposing that the two leaders meet to agree an end to more than four years of war.
In the letter, posted on Ukraine’s official presidential website, Zelenskyy said that with the United States focused on the conflict in Iran, he was proposing a meeting because “it would be wrong to simply wait until the war in Europe returns to the center of its attention.”
“The front line today is the line from which diplomacy must begin,” he wrote, adding that Ukraine is “ready for a full ceasefire for the duration of the negotiations. This is standard practice.”
He said the United States “has the capability to monitor a ceasefire along the line where hostilities stop.”
Zelenskyy proposed setting a date for a meeting and said several countries had “traditionally hosted leaders to resolve issues of war and peace,” citing Switzerland, Turkey, and “countries of the Arab world.”
He said that neither should meet in each other’s countries.
“Everyone heard your representatives, smiling, say that I could supposedly come to Moscow. But after these 26 years, there is nothing for a Ukrainian leader to do in your capital — just as there is nothing for a Russian leader to do in Kyiv,” he said.
He said that if Putin does not conclude that it is time to end this war, “Ukraine will continue fighting for its existence.”
The Kremlin said it had seen Zelenskyy’s letter and that Putin would be briefed on it.
Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha said in a post on X that the letter would also be sent officially through diplomatic channels.
“This open letter is a serious and meaningful proposal to end the war. Directly from President of Ukraine — to the President of the Russian Federation,” Sybiha wrote. “With clear, doable steps and an invitation for a personal meeting. We expect a meaningful response to this proposal. It’s time to end this war. It’s time to choose peace.”
By Owen Evans
