Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky wrote in an open letter addressed to his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, that Russia will not take control of Ukraine’s Donetsk region this year. He called on him to end Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, now in its fifth year, and suggested they meet.
04.06.2026 20:55 , updated: 22:30
In the letter, Zelensky reminds that Putin has been in power for more than 26 years and, according to him, during that time, relations between Ukraine and Russia have changed from business and civil topics to strikes, losses and war. “This war is your personal choice — a war without a real cause. That’s how history will remember it,” he told Putin. He said that Ukraine is ready to observe a ceasefire during the negotiations, which could be monitored by the United States. According to him, a personal meeting could take place in a neutral country and he named Switzerland, Turkey or the countries of the Arab world.
However, according to Putin, it is not necessary to stop fighting for the sake of negotiations.
Zelenskyi also proposed the exchange of all prisoners of war and the adoption of measures for the return of civilians and children abducted during the war. “Today, the front line is the line from which diplomacy must begin,” he said.
At the same time, the Ukrainian president suggests that other participants should be involved in the process. Since the war is taking place in Europe and Ukraine needs security guarantees, according to Zelensky, both Europe and the United States should be part of the negotiations. He claims that previous agreements with Russia, including the Minsk agreements, have failed, and therefore direct answers to fundamental questions must be sought.
Zelensky also reminded that the war is increasingly returning to the territory of Russia. He mentions Ukrainian drones and missiles, lack of gasoline, rising prices, restrictions and the possibility of further mobilization. According to Zelensky, the space for Putin to maintain the loyalty of his own population is narrowing. “You will not have enough money or political capital to buy the loyalty of the Russians as you have done for the past 26 years,” he said.
The letter also refers to data on Russian losses at the front. According to the report he should have received, the number of killed and seriously wounded Russian soldiers in May once again exceeded 30,000. At the same time, he admits that Ukraine is also losing its people. “We are losing our people and every loss is painful for us,” he wrote.
Zelenskyy emphasized that Ukraine does not want a permanent war. According to him, it was confirmed that Russia underestimated Ukrainian resistance. “Ukraine has preserved its independence. And it will preserve it,” he said. At the same time, he recalled that Kyiv was able to secure the support of its partners, weapons and financing, while Russia is facing sanctions.
“If you personally do not come to the conclusion that it is time to end the war, Ukraine will continue to fight for its existence,” Zelenskyy told the head of the Kremlin, adding that he too will have to fight, not for the existence of Russia, but for his own. “And this is not a threat from my side or from the side of Ukraine. It is a fact of Russian history that you know well: when Russia weakens, changes come,” the Ukrainian president said.
The letter concluded with the words: “Enough of the war. Ukraine proposes to end this war.”
Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022, triggering the biggest conflict in Europe since the end of World War II. As a result of Russian attacks in the attacked country, civilians die daily, others are injured or suffer from psychological trauma. There is also enormous damage to the civil and energy infrastructure, cultural and natural heritage of Ukraine. Ukraine defends itself with the support of Western countries and carries out retaliatory attacks in the Russian interior. It says it is targeting the enemy’s military targets and its oil infrastructure in order to limit Russia’s revenue from the sale of this raw material. People also die in these attacks, but they are significantly fewer than in Ukraine.
Zelensky can meet Putin in Moscow, Peskov responds
The President of Ukraine is welcome in Moscow to meet with President Putin at any time. This was announced by Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov on Thursday in response to Zelensky’s open letter, in which he proposes an end to the war, a ceasefire and a personal meeting with Putin.
“Zelensky can come to Moscow at any time,” state media quoted Peskov as saying. According to him, they have not presented Zelensky’s letter to Putin yet.
