Putin Rejection of Zelensky Meeting Closes Direct-Talks Track; Apple Removes Kremlin Max App
Russian President Vladimir Putin’s Friday rejection of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky’s face-to-face meeting proposal closed the most significant Ukrainian diplomatic move in months. Putin said he sees “no point” in the meeting; commented on Zelensky’s remarks on his age and election cycles. Putin separately slammed Western sanctions as damaging to the global economy at the St Petersburg International Economic Forum (SPIEF). Apple removed the Kremlin-backed messaging app Max from its App Store, escalating Western tech-sector pressure on Russian state infrastructure.
Putin’s “no point” framing reflects the same Kremlin position that has rejected US-pushed Zelensky-Putin meetings in earlier rounds. The structural argument is the Russian view that Zelensky’s legitimacy expires absent elections. The Zelensky open-letter proposal was the most significant Ukrainian diplomatic move since the Ukrainian peace-summit track collapsed in mid-2024 and its rejection materially reduces the near-term probability of a Russia-Ukraine bilateral diplomatic breakthrough. Ukrainian deep-strike operations against St Petersburg infrastructure during the SPIEF forum continue to keep Russia under operational pressure even as the diplomatic track stalls.