Putin Rejects Zelensky's Taunting Offer

Vladimir Putin has no interest in a face-to-face meeting with Ukraine's Volodymyr Zelensky. Asked at Russia's flagship economic forum if he'd sit down with Zelensky after the Ukrainian president publicly urged in-person talks to end the war, Putin replied that he saw "no point for now," reports Reuters. His comments came after Zelensky released a public letter suggesting the talks, a missive that also took pointed shots at Putin's age of 73 and his political and economic troubles at home.

"This letter contains some rather rude remarks," Putin told reporters. "Was it a way to create the conditions for a face-to-face meeting or a way not to set up a face-to-face meeting? I think it was the second." Putin, however, left a narrow door open, saying peace ideas floated by President Trump could stop the fighting if Kyiv agreed to compromise. Moscow and Kyiv both accuse the other of blocking any real concessions. Russian nationalist figures, meanwhile, brushed off Zelensky's letter as a hostile publicity maneuver aimed at undermining Putin at home rather than seriously pursuing negotiations, per the New York Times.