Putin sees "no point" in meeting with Zelenskyy to discuss ending war

Russian President Vladimir Putin said he sees "no point" in meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in an effort to end the war with Ukraine. On Thursday, Zelenskyy wrote a letter to Putin, the first public message he has sent to the Russian leader since Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022, in which he criticized Putin's 26 years of rule and said "age is beginning to take its toll." Speaking at the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum, Putin described Zelenskyy's open letter proposing the meeting as "boorish." "Is it a way to create conditions for personal meetings and talks, or create an environment which makes any personal meetings impossible?" Putin said at a question-and-answer session at his annual St. Petersburg International Economic Forum. "I think it's the second." Putin added that a Russian businessman whom he didn't identify traveled to Kyiv last month and met with Zelenskyy to hear his offer of a personal meeting. However, Putin said he currently sees "no point" in such a meeting, especially after a May 22 drone attack by Ukraine on a college dormitory in the Russian-controlled Luhansk region that Moscow said killed 21 and wounded scores of others. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy speaks during a joint news conference with NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte (not pictured) on June 3, 2026 in Kyiv, Ukraine. …