Letter and Fire in One Day
On June 3, 2026, President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky wrote an open letter to Vladimir Putin — proposing to arrange a meeting and set its date. The letter appeared on the same day that the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum (SPIEF) launched in St. Petersburg, and Ukrainian long-range drones that night struck the St. Petersburg oil terminal and facilities of the Kronstadt base — approximately 1,100 kilometers from Ukraine's border.
In the letter, Zelensky reminded Putin that "the absolute majority of Ukrainians view positively" the fact that drones visited the forum's opening. And immediately added: this distance is not the limit of Ukrainian capabilities.
"Ready for direct negotiations with Putin right now. I don't want to wait in line while the world resolves other conflicts."
— Zelensky during a joint press conference with NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte, June 3, 2026
Why Now
The context is not accidental. The United States is focused on the Iranian crisis: the American negotiating team has not arrived in Kyiv by the promised deadline, despite confirmation from the head of the President's Office Kyrylo Budanov. Zelensky directly stated that Ukraine "stands in line" among conflicts — and is not going to wait any longer.
- May 9: Putin for the first time declared readiness for a meeting "in a third country" — but only after signing a peace treaty, effectively removing negotiations from the agenda for an indefinite period.
- End of May: Zelensky wrote a letter to Trump and Congress about the critical shortage of Patriot missiles — a signal about the real situation in air defense.
- June 3: strike on SPIEF and open letter — diplomatic and military pressure in one day.
Kremlin: Meeting Only After "Final Agreement"
Moscow has not changed its formal position. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov stated that "responses will be systematic" in response to the strikes. Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov at the SPIEF venue "resolutely condemned" the attacks. Putin as far back as May formulated the condition for a meeting: "not negotiations, but signing of a final agreement" — a formulation that effectively makes any meeting before peace impossible according to Russian logic.
Analyst at the Penta Center Volodymyr Fesenko characterized the position of both sides back in May as a game "for one viewer — Donald Trump": Ukraine demonstrates openness to dialogue, Russia — the ability to set conditions. The real addressee of the moves is Washington, not St. Petersburg.
What the Open Letter Changes
The format of an "open letter" is not a diplomatic channel but public pressure. Zelensky fixed the proposal so that any refusal by Putin would become visible to the international audience. At the same time, the strike on SPIEF that same morning makes it impossible to read the letter as a concession: Kyiv signals that dialogue and military pressure are not alternatives but parallel tools.
The last personal meeting between the two presidents took place on December 9, 2019 in Paris — in the Normandy format. Since then — a full-scale invasion, over 100,000 square kilometers of occupied territory, and no direct contact at the level of leaders.
If the American delegation does arrive in Kyiv and Moscow in the coming weeks — as Budanov confirmed — the open letter becomes a test: is Putin capable of responding with something more concrete than "first sign the agreement"?
