EU welcomes Zelensky call for direct talks with Putin

The EU on Friday backed Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky's call for direct talks in a letter to Russian leader Vladimir Putin.

"We welcome President Zelensky's call for direct negotiations and also the call for a ceasefire -- and from our side, we will go once more through the facts, and this is that Ukraine wants peace, Europe wants peace," EU spokeswoman Anitta Hipper said.

French President Emmanuel Macron also welcomed the appeal f for direct talks with Russia's Vladimir Putin, saying it was time to resume dialogue with Moscow.

"I believe that it is now up to Ukraine and Russia to establish both a ceasefire and a peace plan. It is the Europeans who can help with this," Macron said at a summit of European Union and Balkan leaders in Montenegro.

Zelensky proposed a face-to-face meeting with Vladimir Putin in a rare open letter to the Russian leader Thursday.

Macron called the letter a "good initiative". The EU and Germany also welcomed Zelensky's call for direct negotiations with the Kremlin chief.

Macron said he wanted to "look to the future and discuss how we can re-establish a dialogue to build a ceasefire and peace".

"I think now is the time, given how the situation is developing," he said.

Debate has picked up in Europe about re-engaging with Russia over Ukraine as US-brokered talks to stop the fighting have ground to a halt.

"We are also very keen to structure discussions and exchanges with Russia on matters of our common interest," Macron said.

"That is to say, our own security, how we exist as neighbours, and of course, to defend the interests of Ukraine."

Macron said he would meet Zelensky in the coming days and also that he had invited Western countries involved in a "coalition of the willing" to shore up any ceasefire deal to Paris for the national holiday on July 14.

The rare open letter to the Russian leader on Thursday came shortly after the Kremlin chief had conceded Moscow needed to strengthen its air defences following a spate of Ukrainian attacks.

US President Donald Trump, who has pushed both sides to end the conflict and boasted he could end the war within a day of taking office, said a face-to-face Putin-Zelensky meeting would be "great" -- but pushed both sides to compromise.

The Kremlin said Putin had not yet been shown the letter, but that Zelensky could meet Putin in Moscow "any time" -- a proposal that the Ukrainian leader preemptively ruled out in his letter.

"Ukraine proposes ending this war through direct engagement between us -- and you. I am proposing a meeting," Zelensky said in the letter.

"I propose to set a clear date for such a meeting," he said.

"Ukraine is ready for a full ceasefire for the duration of the negotiations," he added.

Zelensky published the letter a day after Ukrainian drones hit Saint Petersburg, as Putin's home city hosted a major international economic forum this week.

The Ukrainian leader has repeatedly called for a meeting with the ex-KGB spy, saying only face-to-face talks will yield an agreement on territory.

Direct addresses from Zelensky to the Russian leader are rare.

 'I suggested those compromises'

Trump, who has faced criticism for berating Zelensky in the White House last year on the one hand while inviting Putin to a summit in Alaska with the other, said he was "glad that they're maybe talking about meeting".

"I think we had a lot to do with it," he told reporters in the Oval Office -- the scene of his clash with the Ukrainian leader.

"I think it would be great if they met. They should -- get it done."

Months of US-led negotiations have failed to bring the sides close to an agreement, with Trump's attention largely absorbed by the Iran war that the United States and Israel launched more than three months ago.

"They're going to both make compromises, I suggested those compromises, and you know, we've had a lot to do with it," Trump said of Ukraine and Russia, without specifying.

Russia, which invaded in 2022, has demanded Ukraine pull out of its eastern Donbas region -- large parts of which Kyiv's army still controls -- as a precondition to peace talks.

Speaking to foreign journalists, including from AFP, in Saint Petersburg just before Zelensky's appeal was published, Putin had repeated his frequent questioning of the Ukrainian leader's legitimacy.

He said the question of whether Zelensky was Ukraine's legitimate leader needed "analysis", after his initial five-year term expired in 2024.

Martial law prohibits elections during wartime in Ukraine, and Zelensky has offered to stage a vote or referendum on a final peace deal if a full ceasefire is in place.

Putin has said he would only meet Zelensky to finalise an already agreed deal, rejecting calls to meet before then.

"Zelensky can come at any time to Moscow," state media quoted Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov as saying after the letter was published.

'Strengthen' air defences

Ukraine has intensified its long-range retaliatory strikes on Russian energy and military targets in recent months -- attacks it calls a fair response to nightly barrages by Russia's army.

"If you do not personally come to the conclusion that it is time to end this war, Ukraine will continue fighting for its existence," Zelensky said in the letter.

Putin on Thursday hailed his forces' achievements on the battlefield in the face of growing confidence in Ukraine.

When asked about whether Russia's offensive against Ukraine had become a "strategic disaster", Putin said that Russia was "advancing along the entire line of contact".

"We are absolutely ready and willing to reach an agreement with Ukraine through peaceful means," he added.

The pace of Russia's advance has slowed since late 2025, and recent data shows Ukraine has regained ground against Russia.

Ukraine recaptured more territory than it lost to Russian forces in May for the second straight month, according to an AFP analysis of data from the Institute for the Study of War (ISW).

Putin also accepted that Russia needs to improve its air defence systems, speaking a day after Ukrainian drones struck an oil terminal and naval base in Saint Petersburg, just as the Saint Petersburg International Economic Forum (SPIEF) -- dubbed Russian Davos -- opened.

"Russia has an air defence system. Yes, we must improve it. Yes, we must strengthen it. And we will do so," the Russian leader said.