Putin rejects Zelenskyy’s offer to meet and reaffirms Ukraine war aims

Vladimir Putin has rejected an offer from Volodymyr Zelenskyy to hold a face-to-face meeting, insisting instead that Russia will achieve its war goals in Ukraine, including seizing all of the eastern Donbas region. Speaking at the Saint Petersburg economic forum, the Russian president described the open letter from his Ukrainian counterpart containing the offer as rude. He refused to use Zelenskyy’s name, referring to him only as its author. Asked if they could meet to discuss an end to the conflict, Putin replied: “So far I see no point.” Zelenskyy’s letter, which was published on Thursday, proposed a meeting in a third country such as Switzerland or Turkey. It said diplomacy should start from the currently frontline and that Ukraine was ready for a full ceasefire while negotiations took place. The letter also alluded to Russia’s recent military setbacks and the growing fuel shortages in Crimea caused by Ukrainian attacks on crucial supply routes. Hours before the forum opened on Wednesday, Ukrainian drones hit St Petersburg’s oil terminal , sending black smoke billowing into the sky. Putin, however, shrugged off the embarrassing strikes on his home city and said Moscow’s territorial demands were unchanged. He said Russia controlled all of Luhansk oblast – a claim Kyiv denies – and more than 85 per cent of Donetsk oblast. He repeated his demand that Ukraine also give up all of Kherson and Zaporizhzhia oblasts. …