- Ukraine calls for a complete ceasefire during peace negotiations.
- Zelenskiy warns that Kyiv remains willing to continue fighting.
- The United States sees itself capable of monitoring the ceasefire lines.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy published an open letter to President Vladimir Putin on Thursday proposing that the two leaders meet to agree to an end to more than four years of war, warning that kyiv was prepared to continue fighting otherwise.
In his letter, which the presidential office said had been sent to other countries including the United States, Zelenskiy said most Russians had grown tired of Ukrainian missile and drone attacks, inflation and fuel shortages, and were ready for peace.
Zelenskiy said that with the United States focused on the conflict in Iran “it would be a mistake to simply wait until the war in Europe returns to the center of its attention.”
And the path to peace, he said, has to begin on the front line, “the line from which diplomacy must begin.” Ukraine, Zelenskiy said, was advocating “a complete ceasefire for the duration of negotiations. This is standard practice.”
He said the United States “has the ability to monitor a ceasefire along the line where hostilities end.”
Zelenskiy proposed setting a clear date for a meeting and said several countries had “traditionally hosted leaders to resolve issues of war and peace,” citing Switzerland, Turkiye and countries in the Arab world.
“Do not be afraid to take the path out of this war. That is the main thing that is required of you now,” Zelenskiy wrote.
“Ukraine proposes to end this war through a direct engagement between us and you. I propose a meeting… If you do not personally come to the conclusion that it is time to end this war, Ukraine will continue to fight for its existence.”
And continuing the war, Zelenskiy suggested, could threaten Putin’s personal standing.
“It is a fact of Russian history that you know well: when Russia gets tired, change comes.”
In Moscow, the Kremlin said it had seen Zelenskiy’s letter and that Putin would be informed about it.
Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha, writing in X, said the letter would also be sent officially through diplomatic channels.
Sybiha described the letter as “a serious and meaningful proposal to end the war… with clear and feasible steps and an invitation to a personal meeting.”
“We look forward to a meaningful response to this proposal. It is time to end this war. It is time to choose peace.”
