Vladimir Putin stated that he has no intention of meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy; this was his response to an open letter previously published by the Ukrainian president addressed to him.
"I do not see any point in us meeting; the Ukrainian side's goal is to stop our advance, while we need agreements," Putin said on Friday during a plenary session at the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum in Russia.
Explaining his reluctance to meet with the Ukrainian president, he also suggested that Zelenskyy's letter allegedly contained "elements of rudeness" directed at him. "What is this? Is this a way to create conditions for a personal meeting and negotiations, or is it creating a situation in which it is actually impossible to hold any personal meetings at all? I think it's the latter," Putin said, admitting that he had read the Ukrainian president's letter "casually" and that his spokesperson, Dmitry Peskov, had allegedly "slipped it to him."
Putin also called Zelenskyy's chosen open method of communication "wrong." "Kyiv deemed it appropriate to move to a public discussion, and that is completely wrong," he explained his decision to refuse the meeting.
As reported, in an open letter to Putin, Zelenskyy proposed a personal meeting to discuss ending the war and stated that Ukraine is ready for direct negotiations between the leaders of the two countries.
U.S. President Donald Trump commented at the White House on Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy's initiative, outlined in an open letter regarding a possible meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin, stating that he generally views such a meeting as positive.
