Putin Dismisses Zelenskiy's Call for Direct Leaders Meeting

Russian President Vladimir Putin dismissed the idea of a meeting with his counterpart Volodymyr Zelenskyy even as the Ukrainian leader reiterated his call for direct top-level negotiations as the only way to end the war.
'How can such meetings be held under these conditions? What is there to talk about?' Putin said during a televised meeting with government officials by video conference, discussing the collapse of bridges in Russia that Moscow blamed on Ukraine. Kyiv denies any involvement.
Zelenskyy hours earlier said that Russia's maximalist demands in negotiations mean there's no point in continuing with lower-level talks aimed at brokering an end to the war, but stressed he remains willing to meet directly with Putin.
'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, calling Russia's conditions for peace an 'ultimatum.'
The comments from Putin and Zelenskyy underscore how far apart the two sides remain in peace talks that have restarted for the first time since the early days of the war. They come after a pair of audacious attacks against Russian targets in recent days that represented an embarrassing setback for the Kremlin.
Over the weekend, a section of a bridge in the Bryansk region, which borders Ukraine, struck a passenger train en route to Moscow shortly before midnight, killing seven people and injuring dozens. Hours later, a similar incident occurred in the Kursk region, but didn't result in any fatalities.
Ukraine's special services organized all the bridge explosions in Bryansk and Kursk regions over the weekend, Russian Investigative Committee Chairman Alexander Bastrykin said at the meeting with Putin. Ukraine hasn't claimed responsibility for the incidents.
Putin also said that Russia's Security Council would discuss the war in Ukraine at its upcoming meeting. The Russian leader didn't mention Ukraine's attack on strategic airfields as far away as eastern Siberia with drones hidden in trucks earlier this week. Several bombers were destroyed in the strike.
Ukraine also said on Tuesday that it attacked the bridge linking the Russian mainland to the Crimean peninsula Moscow illegally annexed in 2014 with explosives, which prompted authorities to twice temporarily close the road to traffic.
Putin continued to resist Ukraine's demands for a ceasefire.
'Why should they be rewarded by offering them a pause in hostilities, which will be used to arm the regime with Western weapons, continue forced mobilization, and prepare other terrorist attacks,' he said.
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,' said Ukraine's president.
Zelenskyy proposed a ceasefire until a leaders' meeting in a place 'of Russia's choice,' citing Istanbul, the Vatican, or Switzerland.
In Washington, the president's chief of staff, Andriy Yermak, met with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio and discussed the Istanbul talks and 'the further course of negotiations,' Yermak said in an X post.
'I emphasized that Ukraine has done everything possible to achieve peace and is ready for a ceasefire — but Russia refuses,' he said. 'That is why additional sanctions are necessary.'

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