Zelenskyy passed Putin an offer of direct talks through sanctioned oligarch Roman Abramovich; Putin says he sees no point in meeting

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy passed a message to Vladimir Putin through the sanctioned Russian billionaire Roman Abramovich, the former owner of Chelsea FC, proposing a direct bilateral meeting, the Financial Times reported, citing four people. Zelenskyy had invited Abramovich to Kyiv last month in an effort to persuade Putin to hold direct peace negotiations, and asked him to convey his readiness to meet. Ukraine wanted to demonstrate that it was serious about direct talks even as the United States, which has been trying to broker a ceasefire, is distracted by the war in the Middle East. Two senior Ukrainian officials said the message resembled the open letter Zelenskyy published on June 4 on his website, though one noted its tone was less confrontational.

Putin rebuffed the overture publicly. Speaking on June 5 at an economic conference in St Petersburg, he said that on May 21 he had met "one of the representatives of our business circles" and told him he saw no point in meeting Zelenskyy. "The only sense in it is for the Ukrainians to stop the advance of our armed forces," Putin said, adding that the businessman had not acted in an official capacity. Neither Kyiv nor Moscow named him. The exchange followed Zelenskyy's June 4 open letter, which urged Putin to set a date to end the war and called for Europe and the US to join the talks; Putin said he had read it and "sees no point in holding a meeting."

Abramovich has mediated between Russia and Ukraine since the first weeks of the full-scale invasion in 2022, and later helped broker the deal securing Ukrainian grain exports through the Black Sea. His role became less prominent after Russia began direct talks with the US last year, but those close to him say he remains involved in prisoner exchanges and bilateral negotiations, including aspects of the US-led peace plan. "He is needed because he is the only Russian they will tolerate. He gets along with everyone," one source said.

The initiative drew open skepticism from people around both leaders. A source close to Abramovich said the oligarch believes Zelenskyy "thinks he can solve everything through the magic of his personal charisma at a leadership meeting," and describes the effort as a "captains' competition." "This is not something Putin goes for at all. And it doesn't really work on Trump either. But Zelenskyy is totally fixated on it," the source said. A person close to Zelenskyy doubted that "anything substantial will happen before the end of summer," noting that Washington is focused on Iran and that Moscow has not yet accepted that it will not seize the rest of Donbas this summer.