Russian President Vladimir Putin has responded dismissively to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky's open letter issued the day prior, which urged that the two leaders meet in order to finally forge a peace deal and bring an end to the war, now it its fifth year.
Putin made clear Friday that he sees no point in holding a personal meeting with Zelensky. He was asked directly about the letter while attending the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum (SPIEF). In response the Russian leader addressed not the "authors of the epistolary genre," but to Russian soldiers on the frontline: "The whole country is proud of you and is counting on you. Keep up the good work, brothers!" And then, per TASS:
Asked to clarify if this response means that he doesn’t plan to meet with the letter’s author, Putin said, "So far, I see no point in this."
He went on to reject the idea of "meeting just for the sake of meeting" - but did reveal for the first time that only last month he sent an informal envoy to Ukraine at Kiev’s request. Apparently that was the opening of a serious diplomatic overture.
But then, he noted, Ukrainian forces bombed a college dormitory in Lugansk merely soon after the Russian envoy arrived. The brutal attack killed 21 people, mostly teenage girls - and injured many dozens more. The Kremlin was outraged at the 'terrorist act' and the following week heavily bombed various Ukrainian cities, especially the capital.
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