Fesenko said he is skeptical of a direct meeting between the two leaders because the idea has been floated for more than a year and Putin has repeatedly declined. Zelenskyy first proposed a meeting in May 2025, and an offer again drew discussion in August, but “from a tactical point of view it was a demonstration that Ukraine was ready to negotiate, including at the highest level, and that Putin did not want to,” Fesenko said.
When the same situation repeats about a dozen times over a year, Fesenko said, it starts to look insulting.
“Why knock on a locked door? I don’t see the point,” he said. He pointed to a recent exchange of public messages, including Zelenskyy’s open letter to Putin and what Fesenko called Putin’s “retaliatory” remarks, and said that after such an exchange he does not see the grounds for the two leaders to meet and negotiate constructively.
Fesenko also said there is a “huge dissonance” between the two men on a psychological level.
“They are both leaders of warring countries, and I think
there are personal motives — they hate each other. How can they negotiate? Even
if [U.S. President Donald] Trump were a mediator, I cannot imagine how they
could reach an agreement,” he said.