War in Ukraine: Volodymyr Zelensky offers Vladimir Putin a "complete ceasefire" and a face-to-face meeting

Volodymyr Zelensky once again extends his hand to Moscow. In an open letter published this Thursday, June 4, the Ukrainian president proposed to his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin a face-to-face meeting to try to put an end to the conflict which has opposed the two countries for more than four years.

“Ukraine proposes to put an end to this war through direct contact between you and us. I propose a meeting,” writes the Ukrainian head of state. He adds that he wants to “decide on a clear date” for this exchange.

In this same letter, Volodymyr Zelensky affirms that kyiv is ready to accept a “complete ceasefire for the duration of the negotiations”. According to him, the discussions should also involve the United States and European countries.

Ukraine has already proposed an extended truce on several occasions in order to encourage the opening of negotiations. An idea so far rejected by Moscow, which believes that a stop to the fighting would allow the Ukrainian army to reorganize and strengthen its positions on the ground.

“Today’s front line is the line from which diplomacy must begin,” also wrote the Ukrainian president, who rarely addresses Vladimir Putin directly.

Moscow opens the door for Zelensky to come

The Kremlin did not immediately react to the contents of the letter. Vladimir Putin has already indicated in the past that he only envisaged a meeting with Volodymyr Zelensky after the finalization of a possible peace agreement.

A few hours after the publication of the message, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitri Peskov, however, declared that the Ukrainian president could meet his Russian counterpart “at any time” in Moscow, while specifying that Vladimir Putin had not yet read the letter at the time of his statement.

For his part, Donald Trump judged this Thursday that a meeting between Russian Presidents Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenksy would be “great”.
“I’m delighted that they’re talking about meeting. I think we have something to do with it (…) I think it would be great for them to meet,” declared the American president from the Oval Office.