Mike Baker

We'll look at the case, the alleged recruitment network behind it, and why it echoes warnings Western spy agencies issued just days ago.

But first, today's afternoon spotlight.

Okay, early evening spotlight.

Fine.

After more than four years of war, Ukrainian President Zelensky is making one of his most direct appeals yet to Vladimir Putin, calling publicly for face-to-face negotiations aimed at ending the conflict.

But the central question is whether either leader is actually prepared to compromise on the issues that matter most.

In an open letter addressed directly to Putin, Zelensky proposed that the two men meet in a neutral third country to begin talks on ending the war, naming Switzerland, Turkey, and Arab states as possible venues.

According to The Guardian, it's the first public letter Zelensky has addressed directly to Putin since Russia launched its full-scale invasion back in 2022.

Zelensky's message was blunt, with the Ukrainian leader saying, quote, Do not be afraid to take the path out of this war.

That is the main thing that is required of you now.

End quote.

He added that Ukraine is prepared to implement a full ceasefire for the duration of negotiations, while also proposing an all for all prisoner exchange as an initial confidence building step, along with the return of civilians and children taken from Ukraine during the war.

With international attention diverted, of course, to the conflict with Iran, Zelensky argued that neither he nor Putin could afford to wait until, quote, the war in Europe returns to the center of global attention and that direct leader-to-leader diplomacy is now necessary.

Zelensky wrote, quote, it is leaders who resolve the key issues.

That has always been the case and it always will be.

But the letter also served as a thinly veiled warning to Putin about his grip on power.

Zelensky said Ukraine will continue fighting if Putin refuses to move towards serious negotiations and is prepared to leverage its innovations in drone warfare to keep up strikes deep inside Russian territory.

Zelensky argued that Russian civilians have grown tired of Ukrainian strikes, along with the fuel shortages and inflation that Putin's war has caused inside his own borders.

Zelensky then suggested that continued conflict could eventually threaten Putin's own position, writing that, quote, when Russia grows tired, change comes, end quote.

Well, that probably went over well with Putin.