Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has written an open letter to his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin, urging him to attend a meeting between the two leaders at a neutral location to agree an end to the war.
The letter says that with Washington “fully focused” on the conflict with Iran, “it would be wrong to simply wait” for this to change --although it also stresses that the United States and European nations should be involved in the peace process.
“Ukraine is ready for a full cease-fire for the duration of the negotiations. This is standard practice, and current developments around Iran only reinforce that point,” Zelenskyy wrote, also proposing an exchange of all prisoners-of-war held by each side.
Zelenskyy’s letter comes five years into Russia’s full-scale invasion, with Ukrainian forces battling Russian troops to a near standstill.
As front lines dominated by drone warfare barely shift, Russia has continued to pound Ukrainian cities with missiles and drone strikes on civilian targets in an apparent effort to undermine morale.
The latest attack, on June 2, was so intense that it shocked Ukrainians who have already endured years of bombardment. Six people were killed in Kyiv, 16 in Dnipro, and dozens were injured.
In his letter, Zelenskyy notes that Ukraine has also been hitting Russia with “drones and missiles,” which have largely targeted the energy industry that bankrolls the Kremlin’s war effort.
“You regularly postpone, every few months, your own deadlines for capturing our regions -- especially the Donetsk region. And you will not capture it this year either,” he wrote. “But we in Ukraine do not want a permanent war. We know very well that life without war is infinitely better. And we want to achieve that.”
Stalled Peace Efforts
Zelenskyy’s call to launch a new peace process follows US-led efforts at diplomacy following Donald Trump’s inauguration as US president in January 2025. These efforts have appeared to stall in recent months, particularly since the US and Israeli attacks on Iran on February 28.
News of the letter broke as Putin was meeting foreign journalists in St. Petersburg, where he is hosting a showcase economic forum sometimes referred to as "Russia’s Davos." The opening of the prestige event was overshadowed by Ukrainian drone strikes sending plumes of smoke over the city.
Putin told journalists that Russia wanted peace but that Trump had not been able to persuade the Ukrainian side.
"We are certainly ready and willing to reach an agreement with Ukraine by peaceful means. And specifically on the basis that we discussed at the meeting with President Trump in Anchorage,” he said.
Putin was referring to his summit with Trump in Alaska in August 2025. Trump told journalists at the time that no deal was struck.
As Putin took questions, his spokesman Dmitry Peskov said the Russian president would be informed of Zelenskyy’s letter later.
Peskov was also quoted by state media as saying that Zelenskyy could “come at any time to Moscow.”
This has been a Kremlin response to previous calls by Zelenskyy for talks. In his letter, the Ukrainian president explicitly rules out a meeting in either Moscow or Kyiv.
Later on, Trump was asked about Zelenskyy's letter while taking questions in the Oval Office.
"I'm glad that they're maybe talking about meeting. I think we had a lot to do with it," Trump said. "I think it would be great if they met. They should -- get it done."
