Zelensky passed Putin a message about a personal meeting through Abramovich

At the end of May, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky approached Russian businessman Roman Abramovich with a request to pass a message to Russian President Vladimir Putin expressing his readiness for a personal meeting.

This was reported by the Financial Times.

According to the publication, the letter concerned the possibility of holding a bilateral summit, which could become the first in-person meeting between the presidents of Ukraine and Russia since the start of the special military operation. The FT article’s author notes that the content of the message passed through Abramovich is close in substance to Zelensky’s open letter to Putin.

On June 4, an open letter from Zelensky to Putin appeared on the official website of the Ukrainian president, in which the Ukrainian leader proposed ending the military conflict “honestly and with dignity.” In the address, Zelensky called on the Russian leader to set a date for negotiations and hold a personal meeting. For the duration of the talks, the Ukrainian side expressed readiness to fully cease fire. Oversight of the ceasefire, in Zelensky’s view, could be provided by the United States.

Putin responded to the letter publicly — during his address at the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum. He stated that he saw no point in personal contact with Zelensky before reaching agreements on a settlement of the conflict.

Russia’s permanent representative to the OSCE, for his part, called Zelensky’s letter to Putin a provocation.