Russian President Vladimir Putin has ruled out meeting his Ukrainian counterpart anytime soon after Volodymyr Zelenskyy called for a face to face meeting between the leaders to end the four-year war.
Speaking at an economic forum in his hometown Saint Petersburg friday evening, Putin said he saw “no point” in meeting Zelenskyy until a possible peace deal was agreed upon. Zelenskyy responded by saying the Russian leader was “weak” and “choosing war again.”
Putin also vowed to continue Russia’s military offensive until its war goals are achieved.
Russia has demanded control of Ukraine’s eastern Donbas region, as well as comprehensive political and military restrictions on its neighbor.
Kiev and its allies have decided the terms are tantamount to capitulation, and US-brokered peace talks have failed to bring the sides closer.
Zelenskyy on Thursday made a rare direct appeal to the Russian leader to end the war “through direct engagement between us”.
Putin refused, however.
“I don’t see any point in the meeting. It only makes sense for the Ukrainian side to stop the advance of our armed forces. That’s it. And we need an agreement,” Putin said at Russia’s main economic forum.
“Let the experts work, develop some solutions and then we can meet,” Putin added.
Hundreds of thousands have been killed since Putin launched his full-scale offensive – which he calls a “special military operation” – in February 2022.
Parts of eastern and southern Ukraine have been devastated and millions have been forced from their homes in the four-year campaign that Moscow hoped would topple Kiev within days.
Russia mounted deadly fresh attacks on Friday, with Ukrainian authorities saying four civilians were killed and seven wounded in Russian attacks on Mykolaivka and Druzhkivka in the Donetsk region.
‘one day’
Zelenskyy says a summit is needed to resolve key issues of a peace deal.
“Unfortunately, the Russian side is choosing war again – everyone heard today’s response. A weak response. He just doesn’t want to end the war,” he said after Putin rejected the call.
His proposal had won support from key allies, including US President Donald Trump and French President Emmanuel Macron.
Zelenskyy will meet Macron, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer and German Chancellor Friedrich Merz in London on Sunday in a bid to inject new momentum into diplomatic efforts.
Putin said the conflict will only stop when Russia’s goals are met.
“Military actions will end one day, we assume. Undoubtedly, they will end after we have achieved the goals we have set for ourselves,” Putin told an audience of business leaders and visiting dignitaries from Russia’s allies.
The former KGB spy also rejected claims that the Russian economy was collapsing due to the high costs of the war.
The Kremlin’s offensive has put Russia’s finances under severe strain, with rising prices, rising taxes and two decades of high borrowing costs hitting many citizens hard.
“We, of course, hear criticism from all sides that everything has collapsed,” Putin said.
“We have come down to the same level that eurozone countries have been living in for the last few years,” the Russian leader said, adding that Russia is pursuing a “sovereign” economy.
Asked by AFP about Russia’s economic problems, Putin channeled American writer Mark Twain on Thursday.
Rumors of my death have been greatly exaggerated, he said, dismissing the idea that Russia was on the brink of a full-blown crisis.
Russian Davos
Putin spoke just two days after the opening of SPIEF – once dubbed the “Russian Davos” – was overshadowed by brazen Ukrainian drone attacks in St Petersburg.
Kiev has intensified its attacks on Russia’s vital energy infrastructure – oil depots, refineries, export hubs – which are threatening to damage Moscow’s most important revenue stream.
In the early years of Putin’s rule, Western investors eager to cash in on Russia’s chaotic and fast-growing economy would flock to the SPIEF to strike deals and court the Russian elite.
Now drones and machine guns have appeared.
AFP reporters saw Russian-made humanoid robots walking the halls of the facility, which featured stands promoting investment in regions annexed by Ukraine.
Guests included former Hollywood star turned Putin supporter Steven Seagal, US conspiracy theorist Candace Owens, Trump’s ballroom commissioner and MPs from the far-right Alternative for Germany party.
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