KYIV, Ukraine: Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky proposed a face-to-face meeting with Vladimir Putin in an open letter to the Russian president on Thursday, saying he was also ready for a “full ceasefire”.
The letter marks one of the few times Zelensky has appealed directly to Putin since Russia´s 2022 invasion.
Talks between Russia and Ukraine have been stalled for months, as US-led negotiations remain effectively frozen due to the Iran war.
Previous rounds of negotiation between the two sides in Istanbul, Abu Dhabi and Geneva failed to yield a breakthrough on the key issue of territory in a post-war settlement.
“Ukraine proposes ending this war through direct engagement between us -- and you. I am proposing a meeting,” Zelensky said in the letter, which was published on the Ukrainian presidency´s website.
“Ukraine is ready for a full ceasefire for the duration of the negotiations,” he added.
Zelensky also proposed an all-for-all exchange of prisoners of war, saying this could be a “good prologue to ending the war”.There was no immediate comment from Putin, who was wrapping up a meeting with foreign journalists in Saint Petersburg when the letter was published.
Zelensky has repeatedly called for a meeting with Putin, saying only face-to-face talks will yield an agreement on territory.
Putin has suggested he would only meet Zelensky once a peace agreement was ready.
Volodymyr Zelensky is welcome to meet his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin in Moscow “any time”, the Kremlin said on Thursday after the Ukrainian president called to set a date for a face-to-face meeting between the pair to end the war.
“Zelensky can come at any time to Moscow,” state media quoted Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov as saying, adding that Putin had not yet been shown Zelensky´s letter.
Meanwhile, a Ukrainian strike killed at least three people in Crimea, the region´s Moscow-installed authorities said on Thursday, a day after Kyiv targeted energy and military sites in Saint Petersburg where Russia was hosting an economic forum.
