Overview
- President Volodymyr Zelensky sent an open letter proposing a direct, in-person meeting with Vladimir Putin that would include a full halt to hostilities during negotiations.
- The Kremlin confirmed receipt of the letter and said it would present it to Putin, while Putin in public remarks repeated conditions for any deal and questioned Zelensky’s legal authority to negotiate.
- Zelensky suggested neutral hosts such as Switzerland or Turkey for talks, but Putin said he would only agree to a ceasefire tied to concrete concessions including withdrawal from parts of Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson and Zaporizhzhia and renunciation of NATO aspirations.
- U.S. political signals shifted on Thursday as President Trump welcomed a leader-to-leader meeting and the House approved legislation authorizing more than $1 billion in security and reconstruction aid plus up to $8 billion in loan authority and new sanctions on Russian sectors.
- If talks proceed, they would follow years of failed mediation in Geneva, Abu Dhabi and Istanbul and could be shaped by U.S. aid and sanctions decisions that alter Russia’s leverage and Ukraine’s negotiating space.