Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky published an open letter to Russian President Vladimir Putin on June 4, proposing a face-to-face meeting in a neutral country and offering a full ceasefire for the duration of peace negotiations — the first time Zelensky has addressed Putin in an open letter since Russia’s full-scale invasion began in February 2022.
The Office of the President of Ukraine released the letter one day after Ukrainian long-range drones hit the Petersburg Oil Terminal and set it ablaze, striking a naval vessel at Kronstadt drydock as well — smoke rising over the city on the opening day of Putin’s fifth wartime St. Petersburg International Economic Forum.
“Ukraine proposes ending this war through direct engagement between us — and you,” Zelensky wrote. “I am proposing a meeting. I propose to set a clear date for such a meeting.”
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Zelensky called for talks to open with an all-for-all prisoner exchange, demanded roles for both the US and Europe, and told Putin to abandon stalling tactics, shuttle diplomacy, and maximalist demands. “The front line now is the line from which diplomacy should begin,” he wrote.
The letter invokes the June 3 strikes — noting the drones traveled more than 1,000 kilometers to reach the city, “and this distance is not the limit of our capabilities” — then lays out what Zelensky frames as Putin’s deteriorating position: over 30,000 Russian troops killed or seriously wounded in May alone, with a 63%-to-37% killed-to-wounded ratio he called unsustainable; Russia’s repeated failure to capture Ukraine’s Donetsk region despite self-imposed deadlines; rising domestic discontent over the war’s costs; and unprecedented dependencies on outside patrons.
“You are the first Russian ruler who was forced to turn to Pyongyang for help,” Zelensky wrote. “And today you are completely dependent on China — also for the first time in Russian history.”
Ukrainian intelligence assessments claiming Russia is drafting war plans to 2027 and 2028 are also cited. Zelensky warns that if Putin does not seek an end to the war, Ukraine will continue fighting — and that Putin will eventually find himself battling “for his personal existence.”
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Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters that Putin had not yet been shown the letter and suggested Zelensky could travel to Moscow “any time” — a proposal Zelensky rejected in the letter, insisting that any meeting take place in a neutral country.
Speaking to international news agency heads at Konstantinovsky Palace on the sidelines of SPIEF, Putin acknowledged the damage caused by the strikes. “To our regret, some of them break through,” he said. “Russia has an air defense system, we need to improve it, strengthen it, and we will do that.”
Putin said Russia remains open to compromise on Ukraine based on understandings from his Anchorage summit with US President Donald Trump, but said Kyiv would need to accept those terms. Trump called a direct meeting between the two leaders “great” while urging both sides to compromise.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio acknowledged US-led peace talks have stalled, with neither side willing to make concessions. Zelensky noted the shift in his letter, writing that it “would be wrong to wait for the US to return its attention to Ukraine.”
Zelensky has pushed for a leaders’ summit throughout the war, arguing it is the only route to a durable settlement. Putin has insisted a meeting would only finalize an agreement reached at lower levels — not open one. The two leaders last met in Paris in December 2019 during Normandy Format talks; they have had no direct contact since Russia’s 2022 invasion.
Martial law bars elections in Ukraine during wartime. Zelensky has offered to hold a vote or referendum on any final peace settlement once a full ceasefire takes hold.
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