Tonight, Ukraine's President Vladimir Zelensky is accusing Russia of choosing war over peace

after Russian President Vladimir Putin rejected his request for an in-person meeting.

Putin spoke at the annual Economic Forum in St. Petersburg, a city on edge after several

Ukrainian airstrikes earlier this week.

Nick Schiffrin reports.

Today at Russia's premier economic forum, to an audience of Russia's richest businessmen

and diplomats from the global south, President Vladimir Putin said a meeting with Ukraine

was off the table.

I said there is no point meeting.

The only purpose for the Ukrainian side would be to stop the advance of our armed forces.

That's all.

Yesterday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy wrote Putin an open letter.

Quote, we see that the United States is fully focused on the issue of Iran.

Ukraine proposes ending this war through direct engagement between us and you. But he also

taunted Putin, writing, you are fully dependent on China, and you too will have to fight

much harder for your own existence, not Russia's, but your own. Today, Putin called the letter

Borish. That letter was truly insolent in tone. What is the point of that? Is it a way to create the conditions for in-person meetings and negotiations?

Or is it a way to create an atmosphere where holding any such meetings becomes effectively

impossible?

I believe it is the latter.

But the atmosphere in St. Petersburg before the forum was created by Ukrainian drones.

On Wednesday, Ukrainian drones flew more than 600 miles to reach Putin's hometown and target

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