Vladimir Zelensky published an open article letter Vladimir Putin. The President of Ukraine called on the President of Russia to meet in person to agree to end the war. Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andriy Sepiga said the message would be officially conveyed to Putin through diplomatic channels. Russian President Dmitry Peskov’s press secretary said the Kremlin had “seen” the letter and would inform Putin about it – and also noted that Zelensky “can come to Moscow at any time if he wants to talk.” The message was published on the official website of the President of Ukraine in Ukrainian and English. Here is its full translation into Russian.
When you came to power in Russia more than 26 years ago, many people in Ukraine had a positive view of you. That’s how it was. But that’s already in the past.
Now the overwhelming majority of Ukrainians positively perceive the fact that our long-range drones attended the opening of your forum in St. Petersburg, covering a distance of more than a thousand kilometers. As you well know, this distance is not the limit of our capabilities.
During my 26 years in power, the agenda of relations between Ukraine and Russia has completely changed. Our countries have moved from discussing trade and other civil issues almost exclusively to talking about strikes and losses.
I spent nearly half of those 26 years in power in Russia waging war against Ukraine.
Whatever you say about NATO, geopolitics, or the Russian language, this war is your personal choice, a war for no real reason. This is how history will remember her.
These years could have been very different.
We often hear that you are satisfied with this war. Of course, not when it comes to the safety of your accommodation in Valdai or your motorcade in Moscow. Your private life is valuable to you.
But now we all see that Russians are becoming less and less comfortable living in this reality – with the fact that the war brings more and more negative consequences for Russia.
They don’t like our drones and missiles.
They do not like the shortage of gasoline and the constantly rising prices.
They do not like constant restrictions.
They do not like your intention to start a second wave of mobilization to expand the war in another direction in Ukraine or to use it against other countries neighboring Russia.
They don’t like that there is no end in sight to your war.
Yes, you can still force the Russians to exist this way. But your resources have decreased significantly.
You do not have enough money or political capital to continue buying Russians’ loyalty the way you have for the past 26 years.
We will do everything we can to help the world bring this moment closer.
As you like to say yourself: “You have to count.”
Yesterday I received a report on your army’s losses on the front in Ukraine for the month of May. Once again, the number exceeded 30,000 dead and wounded Russian soldiers. This level of loss continues month after month, and we have video evidence of every one of your losses – and this is not empty data.
We know that 63% of your casualties on the battlefield are killed, and only 37% are wounded. In the twenty-first century, no army can bear such a ratio. The death toll will only rise.
This does not mean that we in Ukraine care about the fate of Russian soldiers after everything your war has brought to our country.
But I care about Ukrainians.
We are losing our people, and every loss is painful for us. Even when the ratio of Ukrainian to Russian casualties is one to five or one to six, it is still of great importance.
It is also important that you regularly, every few months, postpone your deadlines for seizing our regions – especially the Donetsk region. You won’t be able to catch it this year either.
But we in Ukraine do not want eternal war. We understand very well that life without war is infinitely better. We want to achieve this.
I am sure that most Russians will view this positively as well – and you know that.
Many did not believe that Ukraine could hold out for long. You didn’t believe it. Whoever advised you did not believe you either. It was a mistake.
She did not expect widespread resistance from Ukraine and did not imagine that everything would come to this. However, here we are now in the fifth year of this large-scale war.
Don’t be afraid to choose your way out of this war. This is the main thing that is required of you now.
Ukraine retained its independence. And keep it. Despite all the contrary expectations.
We have united many around the world in support of Ukraine and against you. We have found the necessary weapons and funding.
We get support. You get penalties. This will continue until there is justice for Ukraine – the justice we seek and that can be achieved.
We will not allow those who are trying to convince you to succeed that sanctions on Russia will be significantly eased and support for Ukraine will be significantly reduced without any major changes in your position towards Ukraine. Orban’s example shows that those who choose to help Russia in its war against us end up disgraced.
Ukraine has endured harsh winters while you tried to destroy our energy system. We survived – and even in the darkness, Ukrainians’ resilience remained unwavering.
We brought war to your lands, and you will not be able to deal with it without North Korea’s help. You are the first Russian governor to turn to Pyongyang for help.
Today you are completely dependent on China – also for the first time in Russia’s history.
You think that the Ukrainians do not have enough strength to defend themselves. But today, our employees help partners in the Middle East and Gulf states build their own defenses.
You were hoping for internal unrest in Ukraine. Instead, it was your military forces that rebelled against you. June 23 will be the next anniversary of this event, and silence will not erase this fact from history.
And now you are the one who is looked at by officials, businessmen and preachers with obvious fatigue. The world sees this.
The world is not as tired of Ukraine as you had hoped. But Russian fatigue is growing — even among those around the world who are helping you circumvent sanctions and keep your economy afloat.
You can’t help but notice it. After 26 years in power, age is beginning to take its toll. As time goes by, your fatigue will only grow.
We have seen intelligence reports indicating that you are now considering plans to continue the war in 2027 and 2028. We also know that you hope that ballistic missiles will achieve what nothing else has achieved. You want to drag Belarus deeper into this war, and we have to prepare for that as well. We see that you are trying to organize something around Transnistria. Your propaganda threatens every country neighboring Russia in one way or another. Do you really want to go through all this?
Now the choice is yours.
Enough war.
Ukraine proposes to end this war.
This must be done with honesty, dignity and guarantees that war will not break out again.
We see that the United States is fully focused on the Iranian issue, and it would be a mistake to simply wait until the war in Europe becomes its focus again.
Ukraine proposes to end this war through direct dialogue between us and you.
I suggest a meeting.
Everyone heard how your representatives said with a smile that I was supposed to come to Moscow. But after these 26 years, the Ukrainian leader has nothing to do in your capital – just as the Russian leader has nothing to do in Kiev.
There are countries that have traditionally hosted their leaders to resolve issues of war and peace. Switzerland, Turkey, countries of the Arab world – many of them are able and willing to host such a meeting.
It is the leaders who decide the main issues. This is how it has always been, and this is how it always will be.
I suggest setting a clear date for such a meeting.
We heard that you were promised in Alaska to resolve some issues related to Ukraine and Europe. But you see for yourself that the Ukrainian and European issues are not resolved in Anchorage.
Other agreed participants can also join the bilateral format established between us.
Since the war is taking place in Europe, and Ukraine needs security guarantees, while also looking for security guarantees for itself, it would be logical to attract those who can really act as guarantors.
We believe that the Europeans must be part of this process, those who are truly capable of influencing the situation.
We also believe that the United States must be part of this process. This is what can help shape a new security architecture for our part of the world.
We have already seen several agreements with Russia, including the Minsk agreements, that ultimately failed. Therefore, we must first find among ourselves direct answers to the remaining questions, and not hide from complex topics behind formulas, technical working groups or endless waste of time in shuttle diplomacy.
Your war has divided Ukraine and Russia forever.
Today’s frontline is the line where diplomacy must begin.
Ukraine is ready for a complete ceasefire for the duration of the negotiations. This is standard practice, and current events in Iran only confirm this. Trying to establish true silence is the best way to start talking to each other. We believe that this will not be just an attempt, but a real ceasefire – if that is what you want.
You know that the United States has the ability to monitor the ceasefire along the ceasefire line.
Ukraine is ready to exchange prisoners of war according to the “all-for-all” formula, and this may serve as a good prelude to the end of the war.
Serious steps must be taken to return civilians and children abducted during the war.
We must determine the future that awaits the generation of Ukrainians and Russians who will come after us.
Unless you personally come to the conclusion that it is time to end this war, Ukraine will continue to struggle for its existence. We will have those who support us.
But you will also have to fight harder for your existence – not Russia’s, but your own. This is not a threat from me or from Ukraine. It is a fact of Russian history that you know well: when Russia gets tired, change comes.
We can work to alleviate this fatigue.
You can stop your war.
The eternal memory of all those whose lives were lost in this war.
Glory to Ukraine!
Cover photo: Ed Ram/Getty Images