Putin Says Ukraine War Is Coming To An End After Moscow Victory Day

Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Saturday, after marking Russia's Victory Day parade in Moscow, that he thinks the Ukraine war is "coming to an end."

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AFR

Putin made the remarks in response to a question about whether Western help to Ukraine went too far, saying "They started ratcheting up the confrontation with Russia, which continues to this day."

Al Jazeera

The comments came as Kyiv and Moscow observed a three-day ceasefire in Russia's war in Ukraine that US President Donald Trump announced on Friday, with the truce running from Saturday to Monday.

DW reported that European Council President Antonio Costa said the European Union was prepared to hold separate talks with Russia and Ukraine "when the right moment comes."

Putin also named former German Chancellor Gerhard Schröder when asked to name his preferred EU negotiator for those talks, and the Kremlin said European governments should make the first move after severing contact with Moscow in 2022.

Trump posted on Truth Social that the three-day ceasefire would last from Saturday to Monday, and he said it would include a suspension of all kinetic activity and a prison swap of 1,000 prisoners from each country.

Al Jazeera reported that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy confirmed on X that a three-day truce had been arranged as part of US efforts to negotiate an end to the more than four-year-old war.

CBS News

In remarks to reporters, Putin said Moscow had not heard from Ukraine on the prisoner swap, telling reporters, "Unfortunately, we still have not received any proposals so far."

TRT World said Putin argued that a meeting with Zelenskyy was possible only once final agreements had been reached on a peace treaty, adding that it could be held in a third country.

The Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told state television that the issue of a Ukrainian settlement was "far too complex, and reaching a peace agreement is a very long way with complex details."

Putin said he was ready for direct peace talks with Volodymyr Zelenskyy, but only after a lasting peace deal was agreed, while CBS News reported that he would meet Zelenskyy in a third country only once all conditions for a potential peace agreement were settled.

“Russian President Vladimir Putin on Saturday said he believes the Ukrainian conflict is nearing its end after he oversaw a military parade on Red Square commemorating the defeat of Nazi Germany in World War II — a show that didn't include heavy weapons for the first time in nearly two decades”

CBS News

DW said Putin warned Brussels that "this game could prove costly" and accused the EU of seeking to escalate the conflict, while also saying he was ready for direct peace talks after a lasting deal.

Al Jazeera reported that the latest sticking point in stalled peace talks is Ukraine’s eastern Donetsk region, around three-quarters of which is controlled by Russia, with Moscow demanding Kyiv withdraw troops from parts of the region Russia failed to capture.

The same Al Jazeera report said Ukraine refused to cede territory still under its control and that Zelenskyy has repeatedly rejected surrendering Ukrainian territory as part of any peace agreement.

DW added that Putin’s remarks came as a scaled-down Victory Day parade took place without military hardware for the first time in nearly two decades, with mostly leaders of Russia's close allies in attendance.