The open invitation to face-to-face peace talks was nominally addressed to the Kremlin, but its real audience was the St. Petersburg investment forum and Western partners.
Zelensky proposed direct peace talks with Putin via an open letter.
The letter appeared during the International Economic Forum in St. Petersburg.
The strategy aims to shift the reputational cost of refusal onto Moscow.
The plant manufactured dairy products for children. Combined with overnight bombardments, Friday's attacks killed at least seven civilians in the region.
Four killed and seven wounded in the strike on a children's dairy factory near Kyiv.
Three more had died in overnight bombardments — seven dead in total.
The attack triggered a fire; emergency teams responded to the scene.
NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte visited Kyiv alongside ambassadors from all 32 member states. Zelensky called for expanded military support, with ballistic missile defense topping the list.
Rutte and all 32 NATO ambassadors met Zelensky in Kyiv on June 4.
Ukraine is urgently requesting ballistic missile defense systems from European allies.
Zelensky is pushing for tougher sanctions to cut off Russia's war financing.
Fabricated anti-corruption cases, dual-citizenship charges and "enemy support" accusations are the tools Moscow uses to strip billionaires of their assets.
15.1 billion dollars seized through anti-corruption cases in Russia, per Bloomberg.
Pretexts include corruption charges, dual citizenship and alleged ties to the West.
Assets are redistributed to Kremlin insiders, not channelled to the state.