Zelensky urges Putin for face-to-face meeting

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has called for a face-to-face meeting with his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, in a renewed bid to end the ongoing war.

In an open letter to the Russian president, he said it would be “wrong to simply wait” until the war in Europe becomes the focus of the US’s attention once more, adding peace could only come “through direct engagement between” Ukraine and Russia.

He also called for a full ceasefire for the duration of proposed negotiations- something Putin ruled out earlier on Thursday.
US President Donald Trump said on Thursday he thought “it would be great” if the two leaders met.

Kremlin confirmed it had received the letter and Putin would be briefed on it. 
The tone of the letter was defiant, even mocking, drawing attention to Ukraine’s recent strikes on Russian territory. 

Zelensky stated that “after 26 years in power, age is beginning to take its toll” on Putin.
The letter also provided an invitation.
“Ukraine proposes ending this war through direct engagement between us- and you. I am proposing a meeting,” Zelensky wrote.
It’s not a new offer from Ukraine’s leader.
As it has before, the Kremlin responded, saying Zelensky was welcome to meet Putin in Moscow, reports BBC.

What was notable was Kyiv’s public acknowledgement that the US “is fully focused on the issue of Iran”.
“It would be wrong to simply wait until the war in Europe returns to the centre of its attention,” Zelensky wrote.
Speaking to foreign journalists in St Petersburg, without apparently having seen the contents of the letter, Putin said he was “certainly prepared and willing to reach an agreement with Ukraine”, but said compromises needed to be made.