Volodymyr Zelensky. Photo: Office of the President of Ukraine. Strikes on St. Petersburg and Kronstadt on the first day of the SPIEF, where the main event was the discussion of Zelensky's letter to Putin with a proposal to start personal negotiations, continued on the last day of the forum. Mobile communication failed in the northern capital, and Governor Beglov urged residents not to go out on the streets. "This war must end. But the Russian leader wants to fight," the Ukrainian president summarized the results of the indirect dialogue he initiated. It seems that few doubt that the bold letter can only formally be considered an invitation to negotiations. Putin's expected reaction directly confirmed this. What was it then? Russia and the world were informed that the war is entering a new phase, when time, considered an ally of Russia, is clearly beginning to work for Ukraine. The arguments are consistently laid out in the letter, and the choice of addressee and time of publication ensured that the message received the widest possible audience, with precise targeting: a direct address to Russia with the help and over the head of its permanent leader, where the growing doubts of the population and the bureaucratic layer in his victorious strategy are expressed in a simple, clear form. Smoke over St. Petersburg after a Ukrainian drone strike, June 3, 2026. Photo: Reuters / Scanpix / LETA. The St. Petersburg Forum is the Russian president's favorite toy, a place where he can still pretend to be an extremely influential world leader, to prance against the backdrop of the racial diversity of participants. Here, too, are gathered those whom the researcher of Russian public administration Alexandra Prokopenko calls nobles: the political aristocracy of Putin's Russia. Media and PR services scurry about in abundance. Therefore, resonance is guaranteed for everything that falls into the active field of attention of the participants, and there is no more important question than what "the grandfather" intends to do with the war. All participants and observers wanted to hear the answer to it, and Zelensky ensured that this answer became the central event of the forum, devaluing the tales of "platform drivers of sovereignty." To begin with, Ukrainian drones prepared the necessary entourage. Petersburgers and city guests had the opportunity to observe pillars of smoke over the local oil terminal and wonder how well Russia's defense capabilities are doing, if even here, at such a moment, drones fly in and hit. Kronstadt, a military base itself, the "reliable shield of Leningrad," was also hit, which looked like mockery. After that, the letter came into play. The killing power of the document lies in the fact that it summarizes the 26-year rule of Vladimir Putin, spent on conquering Ukraine and, driven by an idée fixe, ruined the country. Russians received war on their territory, sanctions, and dependence on China, and Putin himself received growing fatigue from him and an increased need to fight for his personal safety in his declining years. "Do you need this?" Volodymyr Zelensky seems to ask Russians. "And you?" he nods towards Putin. "Yes, yes!" Putin predictably answers with bitterness and kills the hopes of Russians for some reasonable way out. And immediately he addresses his military: "[Comrades soldiers and sailors!] Work, brothers!" "See," Zelensky shrugs, leaving it to the participants of the SPIEF and ordinary Russians to judge the leader's adequacy. Another portion of UAVs flies into the Leningrad region, illustrating the text of the insolent letter and closing the theme. Secondary detonation at the arsenal in the Bolshaya Izhora area saluted this information-psychological operation. When Volodymyr Zelensky embarked on his path to power, having no political experience at all, but only extensive stage experience, many reasonably considered it a fatal weakness. Over time – and the time was extremely difficult – he politically "pumped up" in a super-intensive mode, but his sense of timing, plot development, and ability to work with the expectations of the audience, and even different audiences simultaneously, did not disappear. As the leader of a warring nation, this has armed him with additional capabilities unavailable to "proper" politicians. And the letter to Putin is an example of another move by Zelensky – and Ukraine – beyond what was accepted and considered possible, and it is on par with the presidential decree allowing Russia to hold a Victory Parade on Red Square. Of course, this is an act of demonstrating strength and defiance, not a diplomatic initiative formulated in a strange, doomed-to-failure way, with "wrong words." As if there are words that can stop Putin. But the diplomatic significance of this operation, of course, also exists. In the spring of 2026, Donald Trump's peacemaking enthusiasm on the Russian-Ukrainian track had withered, and by the summer, against the backdrop of the White House administration's concerns about Iran, it had disappeared altogether. Trilateral negotiations did not achieve any breakthrough. Marco Rubio stated the futility of continuing in the same vein: "We are not interested in getting involved in an endless cycle of meetings that lead nowhere." Moscow does not tire of talking about its disappointment with Washington's inability to comply with the agreements reached in Anchorage. It should be recalled that after the meeting in Alaska in August last year, Trump withdrew his demand for an immediate ceasefire as a mandatory transition to negotiations. It seems that he received assurances from Putin that he would be able to force Ukraine and bring about peace on his terms, and the United States, for its part, only needed to pressure Kyiv, and the Nobel Prize would be in the president's pocket, everyone would be satisfied. The time that has passed since then is indeed enough to conclude that the agreements did not work. Ukraine not only did not become more compliant, it became even more brazen. But Putin also deceived Trump's expectations, proving unable to show convincing results either on the battlefield or by forcing Ukraine through long-range strikes on energy infrastructure. Unable to defeat Ukraine, but refusing to make peace, Putin deprives Donald Trump of his well-deserved umpteenth stopped war. Volodymyr Putin and Donald Trump during a meeting in Alaska, USA, August 15, 2025. Photo: Sergey Bobylev / Sputnik / Kremlin / EPA. Zelensky, on the other hand, shows card after card, the existence of which was denied to him in the Oval Office a year and a half ago, and now the attitude towards Ukraine in the White House is clearly changing to respectful, but they are not yet ready for new negotiation efforts, finally putting pressure on the aggressor. European allies of Ukraine see in these circumstances a chance to become active participants in negotiations and persuade Putin to stop before it gets worse. The Sunday meeting of leaders in London is dedicated to this, in particular. But it seems this idea will have to be postponed for some time. The St. Petersburg story demonstrated Putin's undiminished eagerness for war, and no one can say now when or if enlightenment will occur. Ukraine can only increase its efforts, working on Russia's fatigue, about which Zelensky writes in his letter. That fatigue, after which changes occur.