KYIV, Ukraine — Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Sunday he was willing to freeze the current battle lines to end the war with Russia, urging President Vladimir Putin to respond to an open letter he issued last week proposing direct talks between the two leaders.
“A ceasefire must not merely pause the fighting temporarily,” Zelensky told reporters in Kyiv alongside European leaders who had gathered to discuss peace conditions. “We are proposing a genuine end to the bloodshed. The question now is whether Moscow is ready for peace or whether it will continue this war indefinitely.”
The offer came as Zelensky met with the leaders of Britain, France, Germany, and Poland — Ukraine’s closest European allies — who set out five conditions that any peace talks would need to satisfy. The conditions include a verified ceasefire, security guarantees for Ukraine, the withdrawal of Russian forces from Ukrainian territory, a framework for future negotiations on disputed areas, and international monitoring of any agreement. Details of the five conditions were not made public.
Putin, speaking at a press conference in St Petersburg, rejected Zelensky’s proposal for a face-to-face meeting, saying there was “no point” in sitting across from the Ukrainian leader. “We have heard these proposals before,” Putin said. “What we need is a lasting resolution, not a theatrical pause that Kyiv will use to rearm.” The Russian president said Moscow remained open to negotiations but insisted any agreement must recognise Russian sovereignty over territories that Russia has declared annexed since 2022.
Zelensky confirmed that Russian billionaire Roman Abramovich had acted as an intermediary, visiting Kyiv to deliver messages from Putin and carrying responses back to the Russian leader. “He came to Kyiv. He said I brought a message direct to you, and I want to take messages from you and to give it to Putin,” Zelensky said, describing the channel as informal and not a formal diplomatic pathway.
The diplomatic push comes as US President Donald Trump’s administration has shifted its focus toward the war with Iran, reducing direct engagement with the Ukraine conflict. European officials said they had briefed the Trump administration on Sunday’s meeting and would provide written summaries of the five conditions to Washington. The US State Department said it was monitoring the situation but declined to comment on the specifics of the European peace framework.
Zelensky said he had not set a deadline for Putin to respond to the open letter but warned that continued delays would only deepen the human cost of the conflict, now in its fifth year.