ST PETERSBURG, Russia, June 5 (Reuters) – Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Friday he currently saw no reason to meet Volodymyr Zelenskiy after the Ukrainian president published an open letter proposing they hold face-to-face talks to agree an end to the war.
The Kremlin chief said Zelenskiy’s letter was rude in parts and did not come across as sincere offer to hold talks.
“This letter contains some rather rude remarks. Was it a way to create the conditions for a face-to-face meeting or a way not to set up a face-to-face meeting? I think it was the second,” said Putin.
Asked on stage at Russia’s annual economic forum whether he would meet the Ukrainian leader, Putin said: “I don’t see any point for now.”
In a meeting with international media a day earlier, Putin stuck to his hardline stance on the war and said his troops were advancing on the battlefield every day. But he also said U.S. President Donald Trump’s proposals for peace could end the fighting if Kyiv was ready to compromise. Both sides accuse the other of refusing to compromise.
Earlier on Friday, Russian nationalists dismissed Zelenskiy’s letter as a malicious public relations stunt designed to stir up discontent inside Russia rather than end the war.
(Reporting by Vladimir Soldatkin and Olesya Astakhova, Writing by Andrew Osborn; editing by Guy Faulconbridge)
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