Putin Says Ukraine Conflict Is Coming to an End After Scaled-Back Victory Day Parade

Russian President Vladimir Putin told reporters on Saturday that he believes the Ukraine conflict is “coming to an end,” speaking after a scaled-back Victory Day parade on Moscow’s Red Square.

Putin said “Victory has always been and will be ours,” while also framing Russia’s mission as a “just cause” against “an aggressive force that is armed and supported by the entire bloc of NATO.”

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He added that a meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy could happen in a third country only after a peace treaty is finalised, saying “This should be a final deal, not the negotiations.”

The remarks came as Russia and Ukraine began a three-day ceasefire and agreed to exchange 1,000 prisoners, developments that raised “cautious hopes of renewed diplomatic progress,” according to Al Jazeera’s account of the US-brokered pause.

Putin also told reporters he could meet Zelenskyy outside Russia, but only to endorse a comprehensive accord, while blaming Western “globalist elites” for the war and declaring, “I think the matter is coming to an end.”

The US-brokered ceasefire began on Saturday and was set to run through Monday, with Donald Trump writing that it would include “a suspension of all kinetic activity” and “a prison swap of 1,000 prisoners from each Country.”

Zelenskyy confirmed the exchange framework on X, writing, “we received Russia’s agreement to conduct a prisoner exchange in the format of 1,000 for 1,000,” and adding that “Ukraine is consistently working to bring its people home from Russian captivity.”

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Putin, however, said Moscow had not received proposals from Ukraine on the exchange, telling reporters, “Unfortunately, we still have not received any proposals so far,” as cited by The Times of India.

In Moscow, the Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov played down the idea of a quick end, saying “the issue of a Ukrainian settlement is too complex,” while also describing the settlement process as a “very long road with many complicated details.”

Putin’s comments tied any potential diplomacy to security arrangements for Europe, with him telling reporters he was ready to negotiate new security arrangements and naming Germany’s former Chancellor Gerhard Schröder as his preferred partner.

In the same press context, Putin warned that “this game could prove costly,” and he accused the West of “ratcheting up the confrontation with Russia,” while insisting “I think it (the conflict) is heading to an end but it's still a serious matter.”

The Guardian reported that Ukrainian officials said there had been Russian drone strikes and “nearly 150 battlefield clashes over the past 24 hours” despite the US-brokered three-day ceasefire.

On the ground in Ukraine, the Guardian also cited regional officials saying one person was killed and three people were wounded in Russian strikes on the south-eastern Zaporizhzhia region, while the governor of the north-eastern Kharkiv region, Oleh Syniehubov, said eight people including two children were wounded in drone attacks.

Putin’s stated conditions for talks and the continuing violence described by the Guardian left the ceasefire’s durability and the prisoner exchange process as immediate points of uncertainty, with Putin saying Russia had still not received any proposals from Ukraine about the exchange announced by Donald Trump.