Russian nationalists slam Zelenskiy's open letter to Putin on ending war as 'PR stunt'

MOSCOW - Russian nationalists dismissed on Friday an open letter penned by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy to President Vladimir Putin as a malicious public relations stunt designed to stir up discontent inside Russia rather than end the war.

Zelenskiy published his letter, in which he proposed the two leaders meet to agree an end to more than four years of fighting, as Putin was holding an event with foreign news editors at his showcase economic forum in St Petersburg.

Putin stuck to his hardline stance on the war during the meeting and said his troops were advancing on the battlefield every day. But he also said U.S. President Donald Trump's proposals for peace could end the fighting if Kyiv was ready to compromise. Both sides accuse the other of refusing to compromise.

Putin - who is due to speak later on Friday at the forum - has yet to respond to the letter, but his spokesman said he had been briefed on its contents.

Russian nationalists and war bloggers were scathing in their assessment of Zelenskiy's message.

"If you look at the text of the statement itself, there is not a whiff of genuine diplomacy to be found," said Rybar, an influential war blogger with more than 1.5 million followers, who described it as a bluff.

"A significant portion of the letter consists of direct insults, rhetoric about 'your war without cause', threats to Russian citizens of 'drones over your cities', and claims about fuel shortages and an alleged new wave of mobilisation.

"Taken together, all this amounts to yet another attempt to stir up internal discontent in Russia," he said.

'AIM IS TO SOW PANIC'

Oleg Tsaryov, a former Ukrainian lawmaker and now a pro-Russian figure, offered a similar interpretation.

"The letter... suggests that Ukraine and its Western allies believe the time has come to focus on the domestic Russian front," he said. "The aim is to sow panic and discontent with the war."

Konstantin Malofeyev, a nationalist tycoon married to a top official and Putin appointee, said the correct Russian response would be not to reply to the letter but to defeat Ukraine on the battlefield.

"If he (Zelenskiy) had wanted to convey or propose something to Vladimir Vladimirovich (Putin), he would have done so through private channels," said Malofeyev.

"But Zelenskiy wanted to put on a show, a publicity stunt."

War bloggers also questioned what there was for Putin and Zelenskiy to even discuss, given the apparent deadlock in peace talks.

They said Putin had repeatedly told Zelenskiy he needs to withdraw his troops from the rest of the Donbas region of eastern Ukraine if he wants the war to end.

Zelenskiy has rejected that demand as akin to seeking Ukraine's capitulation and has said surrendering the territory would affect the fate of hundreds of thousands of people and leave the country dangerously vulnerable to further Russian attacks.

"If there are no points of common ground apart from the exchange of prisoners and the bodies of the dead, what agreements and memoranda are there?" asked Voenkor Kotyonok, a war blogger with over 300,000 followers.

"What does Zelenskiy want to discuss?"

The Kremlin, he said, has repeatedly made clear that Putin and Zelenskiy could hold a face-to-face meeting once a compromise had been reached to seal the deal - but not before.

(Reporting by Andrew OsbornEditing by Gareth Jones)