In an open letter to Vladimir Putin, he said that Ukraine is capable of dramatically increasing the cost of war for Russia and called on him to meet in person to end hostilities.
Volodymyr Zelensky wrote an open letter to Vladimir Putin. The president of Ukraine offered to meet with each other to reach an agreement on ending the war. The head of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine, Andrey Sibi, informed that the text of this letter will be delivered to Putin through diplomatic channels. Dmitry Peskov, the press secretary of the President of the Russian Federation, said that those in the Kremlin had “seen” the letter and that Putin would be informed about it. Zelensky also said that “if he wants to talk, he can come to Moscow at any time.” The text of the letter is published in Ukrainian and English on the official website of the President of Ukraine. Below is its full translation.
When you came to power in Russia 26 years ago, the majority of people in Ukraine welcomed it. It was so. But that is now a thing of the past.
Now the majority of Ukrainians are positively accepting the fact that our long-range drones have traveled more than a thousand kilometers and visited your forum in St. Petersburg. As you well know, this distance is not the limit of our capabilities.
During the 26 years that you have been in power, the agenda of relations between Ukraine and Russia has completely changed. Our countries have gone from discussing trade and other civil matters to talking practically only about strikes and losses.
Of these 26 years in Russian power, you spent almost half of them waging war against Ukraine.
Whatever you say about NATO, geopolitics, or the Russian language, this is a war of your own choice, a war without a real cause. This is how he will be remembered in history.
These years could have been completely different.
We often hear that you are satisfied with the way this war is going. Of course, the exception is when it comes to the security of your residence in Valdai or your parade in Moscow. Your life is precious to you.
But now we can all see that as the war affects Russia more and more negatively, it is becoming more and more uncomfortable for Russians to live in this reality.
They don’t like our drones and missiles.
They do not like the shortage of gasoline and regular price hikes.
They don’t like constant restrictions.
They don’t like your intention to expand the war into another direction in Ukraine or to start a second wave of mobilization to use it against other countries neighboring Russia.
They don’t like the war you started with no end in sight.
Yes, you can force the Russians to stay that way. But your resources are running low.
You have neither the money nor the political capital to continue buying the loyalty of the Russians as you have done for the past 26 years.
And we will do everything we can to help the world get closer to those moments.
As you said: “must be accounted for”.
Yesterday I received a report on the losses of your army on the Ukrainian front in May. And again, the number of killed and seriously wounded Russian soldiers exceeded 30,000. Losses at this level continue month after month and we have video proof of every loss you make – these are not empty claims.
We know that 63% of your losses on the battlefield are killed and only 37% are wounded. No army in the 21st century can afford such a ratio. And the number of victims keeps increasing.
After all the hardships your war has brought to our country, we are not interested in the fate of Russian soldiers.
But I am not indifferent to Ukrainians.
We are losing our people and every loss hurts us. Even if the ratio of Ukrainian and Russian losses is five to one or six to one, it is still significant.
What is important is that you regularly, every few months, push back your deadlines for the occupation of our territories, especially the Donetsk region. You won’t get it this year either.
But we do not want eternal war in Ukraine. We understand very well that life without war is simply better. And we want to achieve it.
I’m sure most Russians would have welcomed it too – and you know it.
Many did not believe that Ukraine could hold out for so long. You didn’t believe it. Even those who advised you did not believe it. It was a mistake.
You didn’t expect a large-scale resistance from Ukraine, and you didn’t expect it to go this far. Yet here we are – in the fifth year of a full-scale war.
Don’t be afraid to choose your way out of this war. This is the main thing that is required of you now.
Ukraine retained its independence. And keeps it. Despite all the contrary forecasts.
We have united many people around the world in support of Ukraine and against you. We found the necessary weapons and funds.
Support for us, sanctions for you. It will continue until there is justice for Ukraine, the justice we seek and can achieve.
We will not allow those who try to convince you that sanctions against Russia will be significantly eased and that support for Ukraine will be significantly reduced without any significant changes in your position on Ukraine. Orbán’s example shows that those who choose to help Russia in their war against us will end up in disgrace.
Ukraine survived harsh winters while you tried to destroy our energy system. We persevered – even in the dark, the resilience of Ukrainians did not change.
We moved the war to your territory and you couldn’t have done it without the help of North Korea. You are the first ruler of Russia to ask Pyongyang for help.
And today you are completely dependent on China – this is the first time in the history of Russia.
You believed that the Ukrainians did not have the strength to defend themselves. But today, our people are helping their partners in the Middle East and the Persian Gulf to build their defenses.
You hoped for internal unrest in Ukraine. Instead, your own military units rebelled against you. On June 23, the next anniversary of this event will be celebrated, and silence cannot erase this fact from history.
And now your own officials, businessmen and propagandists are looking wearily at you. The world is watching.
As you might hope, the world is not tired of Ukraine. But Russia fatigue is growing — even among those who help the world circumvent sanctions and keep your economy stable.
You can’t help but notice it. After 26 years in power, the youth is beginning to speak. As time goes by, you will only grow tired of it.
We have seen intelligence reports that indicate that you are now considering plans to continue the war into 2027 and 2028. We also know that you are hoping that ballistic missiles will achieve something that nothing else has achieved. You want to draw Belarus deeper into this war, and we have to prepare for it. We see that you are trying to organize something around the Transnistria. Your propagandists threaten every country neighboring Russia in one way or another. Do you really want to try all this?
Now the choice is yours.
Enough fighting.
Ukraine offers to end this war.
This should be done in good faith, decently and with guarantees that the war will not start again.
We see that the United States is focused on Iran, and it would be wrong to simply expect a war in Europe to be their focus again.
Ukraine offers to end this war through direct dialogue between us.
I propose a meeting.
Everyone heard your representatives jokingly saying that I could come to Moscow. But after these 26 years, the leader of Ukraine has nothing to do in your capital – just like the leader of Russia has nothing to do in Kiev.
From time immemorial, there are countries that have hosted meetings of leaders to resolve issues of war and peace. Switzerland, Turkey, countries of the Arab world – there are many people who are able and ready to accept such a meeting.
The main issues are decided by the leaders. It always has been and always will be.
I suggest setting a specific date for such a meeting.
We heard that in Alaska you were promised to solve some issues related to Ukraine and Europe. But as you can see, Ukrainian and European issues are not being resolved in Anchorage.
Other participants may also be included in the two-way format.
Since the war is raging in Europe and Ukraine needs security guarantees, it would make sense to bring in those who can actually provide guarantees while you are also looking for security guarantees for yourself.
We believe that Europeans should be part of this process – they can really influence the situation.
We believe that the United States should be part of the process. It is this that can help shape a new security architecture for our part of the world.
We have already seen many deals with Russia, including the failed Minsk agreements. Therefore, first of all, we need to find direct answers to the remaining questions, without hiding behind formulas, technical working groups or endless time lost in the diplomacy of mediators.
The war you started separated Ukraine and Russia for life.
Today’s front line is where diplomacy must begin.
Ukraine is ready for a complete ceasefire during the negotiations. This is common practice and current events around Iran confirm it. Trying to establish a real silence is the best way to start a conversation. We believe that this will not be just an attempt, but a real ceasefire – if that is what you want.
As you know, the United States has the ability to monitor the implementation of the ceasefire along the demilitarized zone.
Ukraine is ready to exchange prisoners of war according to the “all for all” formula, and this could be a good prelude to ending the war.
Serious measures should be taken to return civilians and children taken during the war.
We must determine what kind of future awaits the next generation of Ukrainians and Russians.
If you personally do not come to the conclusion that it is time to end this war, Ukraine will continue to fight for its existence. There will be people who support us.
But it will be much more difficult for you to fight for your own existence – you will have to fight for your own existence, not Russia’s. This is neither my threat nor Ukraine’s. This is a well-known fact of Russian history: when Russia is tired, a period of change will come.
We can work to approximate this fatigue.
And you can stop the war.
May the memory of the victims of this war be eternal.
Kudos to Ukraine!
