Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Vladimir Putin does not want to end the war, commenting on the Russian president’s response to his open letter:
On the evening of June 4, Zelensky published an open letter to Putin, proposing that the Russian president meet with him in person to negotiate an end to the war.
The following day, speaking at the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum, Putin said he saw no point in meeting with Zelensky at this time. He said Ukraine was seeking to use such a meeting to halt the Russian military’s advance.
Putin also claimed that Zelensky had asked him for a personal meeting through a Russian businessman — several weeks before publishing the open letter proposing to end the war. That proposal was conveyed to Putin on May 21, and the following day “Ukrainian forces carried out a horrific terrorist strike on a college dormitory in the Luhansk People’s Republic, killing children and teenagers.” He said he had asked the businessman “what this meant — that they were asking for a meeting while committing such terrible crimes.”
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