By Vladimir Soldatkin and Andrew Osborn ST PETERSBURG, Russia, June 5 (Reuters) - Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Friday he currently saw no reason to meet Volodymyr Zelenskiy after the Ukrainian president published an open letter proposing they hold face-to-face talks to agree an end to a war now in its fifth year.

Russian President Vladimir Putin had warm words for "old friend" Chinese President Xi Jinping on Wednesday, describing their relationship in personal terms and dismissing the notion that the war in Ukraine had driven a Russian "pivot" toward the East Asian power.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky called on Russian President Vladimir Putin to end the four-year-long war in an open letter posted as the Russian leader was preparing to address the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum.

ST. PETERSBURG, Russia, June 4 (Reuters) - Russian President Vladimir Putin on Thursday sidestepped a question on whether or not he would stay in power until 2036, saying that it was too early to talk about the issue and that in any case only God knew if he would be healthy enough.

Chinese leader Xi Jinping hailed ties with Russia as a force for “calm amid chaos” during a meeting with Vladimir Putin in Beijing on Wednesday, days after Xi hosted President Donald Trump for a landmark US-China summit.

After 26 years in power, age is beginning to take its toll,” President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine wrote of his Russian counterpart, bragging of a recent strike on St. Petersburg.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has proposed a meeting with his Russian counterpart to negotiate an end to the war face to face.