Overview
- Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky publicly proposed a face‑to‑face summit with Vladimir Putin in early June and asked for a full ceasefire during negotiations, but Putin replied at the St. Petersburg forum that there is no reason to meet and called parts of the letter rude.
- Hours after the exchange, Ukraine launched long‑range drone attacks that Moscow officials said targeted St. Petersburg and approaches to Moscow while Russia continued strikes inside Ukraine, including a drone attack on a food company in Brovary that local authorities said killed three people.
- The International Atomic Energy Agency secured a localized ceasefire at the Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant to permit urgent repairs to damaged power lines and reduce the immediate risk of a nuclear incident during the works.
- Practical channels of cooperation persisted: Russia and Ukraine carried out a 185‑for‑185 prisoner swap and their human‑rights commissioners met to share prisoner lists and arrange visits, and France, Germany and the UK convened a diplomatic push with Zelensky in London to pursue possible mediation steps.
- The United States shows mixed signals with the House approving up to $8 billion in new aid while the White House has signaled lower public diplomatic engagement because of other priorities, a split that has pushed European leaders to take a more active mediation role and raised the risk of miscalculation on the battlefield.