Zelenskyy dismisses Russian demands, proposes direct Putin talks

Olesia Safronova, Bloomberg News on Jun 4, 2025

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Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said that Russia’s maximalist demands mean there’s no point in continuing with lower-level talks aimed at brokering an end to the war.

Calling Russia’s conditions for peace an “ultimatum,” Zelenskyy said that he remains willing to meet directly with President Vladimir Putin. But low level talks such as those that took place in Istanbul on Monday make no sense unless they lead to a meeting of the two leaders, he said.

“To continue diplomatic meetings in Istanbul at a level that does not resolve anything further is, in my opinion, meaningless,” Zelenskyy told reporters in Kyiv on Wednesday.

Zelenskyy is upping the pressure on Putin after a pair of audacious attacks against Russian targets in recent days that represented an embarrassing setback for the Kremlin. U.S. special envoy for Ukraine Keith Kellogg said yesterday that additional sanctions on Russian are “ready to drop,” based on his conversation with Republican Senator Lindsey Graham.

Another prisoner exchange with Russia involving around 500 people is possible over the coming weekend, according to Zelenskyy, who said that Russia was motivated by a desire to avoid further western sanctions.

Prisoner exchanges “are going on and should go on, but the Russians are not ready for a ceasefire; at least the delegation level is not ready to resolve this and they believe that this is a matter for the leaders, they told us so themselves,” he said.

Zelenskyy proposed a ceasefire until a leaders’ meeting in a place “of Russia’s choice,” citing Istanbul, the Vatican, or Switzerland.

“If we see that we can continue the dialogue and are ready to take steps towards de-escalation, we will continue the ceasefire with American monitoring and American guarantees of mediation,” he said. However, he said a meeting with Putin would also be possible “tomorrow” without such a ceasefire agreement in place.