Following the back-and-forth strikes initiated by a Russian ballistic missile attack on Kiev earlier this week, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy proposed a face-to-face meeting with his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, to discuss a ceasefire.

Though the Kremlin has not responded yet, Putin has recently continued to press that Russian conditions for a ceasefire would mean fulfilling the country’s “strategic objectives” in the Ukraine war.

It has been over four years since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, which has resulted in a military stalemate. There have been attempts at ceasefire agreements – the last significant discussion taking place in October 2023 in Istanbul, Türkiye. However, it collapsed without implementation, leaving both sides blaming the other for its failure.

Russian military fatalities are estimated at between 325 000 and 500 000, according to Western intelligence assessments, representing roughly 20% to 30% of the estimated Russian fighting force of 1.6–1.7 million deployed personnel.

Ukrainian military fatalities are reported at about 55 000, according to Zelenskyy, about 10% of Ukraine’s estimated fighting force of between 500 000 and 600 000 troops.

In the proposal, which came out of an official letter from Zelenskyy’s office, the conditions for a ceasefire remain somewhat malleable. The tone, while firm in its conditions for a meeting, indirectly frames the subject of the negotiations more as requests than a set list of demands.

The letter prefaces that the war represents a recent shift in relations between the two countries, highlighting that it was not too long ago that they had engaged with each other pragmatically, implying that it was Russia’s decision to have made that change.

“For 26 years, your time in power has completely changed the agenda of relations between Ukraine and Russia. From discussions about trade and other civilian matters, our nations have moved to topics dominated by hits and losses. You have spent nearly half of your 26 years in power waging war against Ukraine. Whatever you may say about [the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation], geopolitics, or the Russian language, this war is your personal choice – a war without a real cause,” Zelenskyy’s letter said.

In his letter Zelenskyy noted that the continuation of the conflict itself would continue to prove devastating to both sides, indicating that the day that Russia decides to stop fighting, the war ends entirely: “You can stop your war.”

Interestingly, Zelenskyy obliquely suggests that the Kremlin’s pursuit of its “Special Military Operation” could end in the demise of its own leadership: “And this is not a threat; these are facts of Russian history that you know well: when Russia grows tired, change comes,” he said.

Zelenskyy also proposed a full prisoner swap as a central point for potential negotiations, petitioning the need to return kidnapped civilians and children taken by Russia.

The letter suggests that negotiations take place on a set date, in a third, neutral country, such as Switzerland, Türkiye, or an Arab state, leaving Putin room for choice.