Published On 6/5/2026
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Last update: 22:18 (Mecca time)
On Friday, Russian President Vladimir Putin ruled out holding a meeting soon with his Ukrainian counterpart, Volodymyr Zelensky, and said that the current circumstances do not provide any serious basis for such a meeting, at a time when he stressed the continuation of Russian forces in achieving their military goals in Ukraine.
During a dialogue session within the activities of the International Economic Forum in St. Petersburg, Putin revealed the details of what he said was a message he received from Zelensky through intermediaries, explaining that he saw it this morning after it was presented to him by Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov.
The Russian President said that the letter included a request to hold a direct meeting between him and the Ukrainian President, but he saw that its content and style did not reflect a real desire for dialogue, describing some of what was contained therein as characterized by “rudeness and insolence.”
He added, wondering, “Is this a message aimed at creating the conditions for holding a personal meeting, or is it a message that makes holding such a meeting impossible?”, before answering that the second explanation is closest to reality.
Putin explained that he did not refuse in principle to hold a meeting with Zelensky, but he believes that such meetings must come after reaching real understandings and clear written agreements, and not before that.
He pointed out that Russia had previously held many meetings with the Ukrainian side within the framework of the Minsk agreements, but Moscow now believes that these agreements were used only to buy time and rearm the Ukrainian army, citing statements by Western officials who later said that the aim of the agreements was to give Kiev an opportunity to strengthen its military capabilities.
He continued that the request to hold the meeting came days before a Ukrainian attack targeted, according to him, a student residence in the Republic of Lugansk in the Donbass region, most of which is controlled by Russian forces, and resulted in the deaths of children and teenagers, considering that such operations contradict calls for dialogue and negotiation.
He refused to meet Zelensky
When the session moderator asked the Russian President whether this meant his refusal to meet with Zelensky, he answered briefly, “I don’t see any meaning in that now.”
Regarding developments related to Iran and its nuclear program, Putin stressed that Russia did not supply Tehran with any weapons, stressing that the Iranian side had not originally submitted any request to obtain Russian weapons.
He said that his country is still ready to work with the various parties to the conflict, stressing that the previous Russian proposal regarding the transfer of enriched Iranian uranium is still on the table as one of the possible options to help address the outstanding issues.
He added that Iran may obtain some of the information it needs via commercial satellites, denying that this information was provided to it via Russian satellites.
Putin reaffirmed Iran’s right to possess uranium for peaceful uses, indicating that Russia is ready to supply it with the necessary uranium for peaceful civilian and nuclear purposes in accordance with internationally recognized frameworks.
He explained that Moscow intends to continue cooperation with Tehran in the field of building nuclear facilities after the current situation calms down, stressing Russia’s commitment to continuing peaceful nuclear cooperation projects with Iran.
Power file
In the energy file, Russian President Vladimir Putin stressed the importance of stability in global oil markets in light of the tensions resulting from the war between the United States and Iran.
Putin said that Russia is not concerned with rising prices resulting from crises as much as it is concerned with maintaining the balance and stability of the global market, warning that any sharp decline in global supplies may lead to turmoil in the markets.
He explained that Russia continues to work with its partners within the framework of the OPEC Plus alliance to maintain the balance between supply and demand and limit price fluctuations.
He stressed that oil and gas revenues no longer represent the same percentage of the Russian budget that they previously did, noting that their contribution declined from about half of revenues to only about 20%, which reflects the diversification of the Russian economy according to his vision.
He also criticized the use of the US dollar as a tool in political conflicts, considering that this harms the US currency itself and undermines confidence in the global financial system.
Putin said that Russia did not abandon the dollar of its own free will, but rather that Western policies prompted it to search for new financial and trade alternatives.
