On a Monday in late May 2022, Ukraine's president Volodymyr Zelenskyy addressed the World Economic Forum in Davos by video and said he would sit down with only one Russian, Vladimir Putin, and only to end the war. He framed the choice as a matter of who truly holds the decision, and as a moral reckoning with the killings found in towns Russian forces had held, particularly outside Kyiv. Russia, for its part, insists it is pursuing a limited 'special operation' and denies harming civilians. The gap between those accounts is where the talks now sit, stalled and uncertain.
Zelenskyy Says He Will Meet Putin Alone to Discuss Ending the War, Rules Out Lower-Level Talks
Mass killings of civilians were reported in Russian-occupied areas, particularly outside Kyiv, and Zelenskyy said Ukrainians are losing too many people in Donbas.
"The president of the Russian Federation decides it all."
Mark
Why does it matter that he named Putin specifically?
Mimi
Because it narrows the door. He is saying lower-level talks can't produce a decision, so only the man who decides counts.
Mark
And he attached a condition to that.
Mimi
Yes, one agenda item only: stopping the war. Nothing else gets a meeting.
Luke
Worth noting that's a statement of position, not an offer Moscow has answered. The reporting shows no Russian response.
Mark
He also tied this to the killings outside Kyiv.
Mimi
He said the discovery of mass killings in occupied areas made talks harder. Russia denies targeting civilians.
Luke
Right, so that's Zelenskyy's characterization of evidence. The piece doesn't detail the evidence itself, and Russia disputes it.
Mark
What about the battlefield claims?
Mimi
He said gains near Kharkiv, but heavy losses in Donbas, and that retaking Crimea by force would cost hundreds of thousands of casualties.
Luke
Those are his assessments too. No independent figures are given, and the casualty number is a projection, not a count.
El Pulso
- Zelenskyy has ruled out every Russian official except Putin, narrowing the door to a single, high-stakes meeting.
- Reports of mass killings in occupied areas outside Kyiv have hardened the mood and made arranging any talks harder.
- Russian and Ukrainian negotiators have met only sporadically since the invasion, and both sides say those contacts have stalled.
- Fighting in Donbas is grinding through heavy losses, while Ukrainian forces report gains near Kharkiv.
- Moscow has yet to answer the proposal for a leaders' meeting, and that silence is the key signal to watch.
On a Monday in late May 2022, Ukraine's president Volodymyr Zelenskyy addressed the World Economic Forum in Davos by video and said he would sit down with only one Russian, Vladimir Putin, and only to end the war. He framed the choice as a matter of who truly holds the decision, and as a moral reckoning with the killings found in towns Russian forces had held, particularly outside Kyiv. Russia, for its part, insists it is pursuing a limited 'special operation' and denies harming civilians. The gap between those accounts is where the talks now sit, stalled and uncertain.
At the World Economic Forum in Davos, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy spoke by video link and made a pointed offer. He would sit down with only one Russian official, President Vladimir Putin, and only if the single subject was ending the war. Anyone below that level, he said, could not settle anything, because the decision rests with the Russian president alone.
He explained the harshness of his position by pointing to what he said Ukraine had uncovered in areas held by Russian troops earlier in the conflict, especially outside Kyiv, where mass killings of civilians had been found. Russia denies targeting civilians and calls its campaign a 'special operation' to weaken Ukraine's military.
Negotiators from both countries have met from time to time since the invasion began in late February, but those talks have stalled. Zelenskyy told Ukrainian television last week that the war could not be halted without some form of diplomacy, and his Davos remarks suggested that a leader-level meeting, not the negotiating table, is now the path he wants.
On the battlefield, he said Ukrainian forces were advancing near Kharkiv, but he described Donbas as the bloodiest front, where Ukraine is losing too many people. The coming weeks will show whether Moscow answers the proposal and how the fighting there shapes any chance of talks.
On Monday, speaking by video link to an audience at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said there is only one Russian official he is willing to sit down with to discuss ending the war: President Vladimir Putin. His remarks, delivered through an interpreter, were reported by Reuters.
Zelenskyy put the reasoning plainly. "The president of the Russian Federation decides it all," he said, adding that if the discussion is about ending the war without Putin personally, that decision cannot be taken. In his view, talks with anyone below that level would not settle anything.
He set a narrow condition on any such meeting. He said he could not accept a meeting with anyone from the Russian Federation other than the president, and only if a single issue was on the table: stopping the war. There are, he said, no other grounds for a meeting of any other kind.
Zelenskyy also said that arranging talks with Russia was becoming harder. He pointed to what he described as evidence of Russian actions against civilians in occupied territory, and in particular to the discovery of mass killings in areas held by Russian troops earlier in the war, notably outside Kyiv. Russia denies targeting civilians. It describes its campaign as a "special operation" meant to degrade Ukraine's military capabilities.
Diplomacy has not been absent. Russian and Ukrainian negotiators have met sporadically since Russian forces entered Ukraine at the end of February, but both sides say those talks have stalled. Last week, Zelenskyy told Ukrainian television that it was impossible to halt the war without some form of diplomacy.
The Davos remarks also addressed the fighting itself and what it costs. Zelenskyy said Ukrainian forces were making gains, notably near Kharkiv, the country's second city. But he said the bloodiest situation remains in Donbas, where, in his words, Ukraine is losing too many people.
He also spoke about Crimea, the peninsula Russia seized and annexed in 2014. Any attempt to recover it by force, he said, would cause hundreds of thousands of casualties.
What to watch now is whether Moscow responds to the idea of a meeting between the two leaders, and how the fighting in Donbas and around Kharkiv shapes the prospects for any negotiation. For the moment, the negotiator-level channel has stalled and Zelenskyy has said he will not use it as a substitute.
Citas Notables
I cannot accept any kind of meeting with anyone coming from the Russian Federation but the president.— Volodymyr Zelenskyy
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