Volodymyr Zelensky has RSVP'd to Vladimir Putin's "invite" for him to head to the Russian capital to discuss ways to end that country's invasion of Ukraine, and it's a no. "I can't go to Moscow when my country's under missiles, under attack, each day," Zelensky said Friday in an interview with ABC News. "I can't go to the capital of this terrorist." Instead, Zelensky noted of his adversary: "He can come to Kyiv." Putin "understands this" and is simply "playing games with the United States," Zelensky added.
Newsweek notes that Putin actually invited Zelensky to Russia not once, but twice this week. "Ultimately, if Zelensky is ready, let him come to Moscow—then the meeting will take place," Putin said Wednesday, after noting that US President Trump had requested he try to set something up. On Friday, Putin remade the offer. "If someone genuinely wants to meet with us, we are ready," Putin said in Vladivostok. "The best place for this is the capital of the Russian Federation, the hero city Moscow."
At a Paris press conference on Thursday, Zelensky said, "As I see it, if your aim is to prevent a meeting, then inviting me to Moscow is the way to go." He added Friday, to ABC: "If a person doesn't want to meet during the war, of course, he can propose something which can't be acceptable by me or by others."
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At least one US lawmaker agrees that Zelensky shouldn't take Putin up on his offer, per the Hill. "I'll give a free piece of advice to President Zelensky: Don't go to Moscow. They don't have your best interests at heart," Democratic Rep. Adam Smith of Washington said on Wednesday, noting Putin has called Zelensky an illegitimate leader and tried to have him killed "on multiple occasions."
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