Putin faces Ukraine drone threat and stagnating economy at ‘Russian Davos’

Russian President Vladimir Putin declined a request to meet Ukraine’s Volodymyr Zelenskky in a speech at a flagship annual economic forum in St. Petersburg.

ST. PETERSBURG, Russia — Russian President Vladimir Putin said he saw no reason to meet Volodymyr Zelenskyy, a day after his Ukrainian counterpart called for face-to-face talks.

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Speaking at a flagship annual economic forum in St. Petersburg two days after Ukrainian drone strikes rocked the host city, Putin said he was grateful to President Donald Trump for his efforts to end the war but insisted there was still “work to do.”

Zelenskyy, who has rarely addressed Putin directly, taunted the Russian leader about his age and the lack of progress in the war in an open letter Thursday. Russians, he said, were growing weary of the war, which he called Putin’s “personal choice” and “a war without real cause.”