Russian President Vladimir Putin has stated that he believes the war with Ukraine is “heading to an end.” The remarks were made on Saturday while responding to journalists' questions during events commemorating the 81st anniversary of the Soviet Union's victory in World War II.
Putin's comments coincided with the start of a three-day ceasefire between Russia and Ukraine, along with an agreement to exchange 1,000 prisoners. Both sides have accused each other of violating the temporary truce on its first day.
Putin criticized Western support for Kyiv, saying, “And they started ratcheting up the confrontation with Russia, which continues to this day. I think it (the war) is heading to an end, but it’s still a serious matter.” He added, “They spent months waiting for Russia to suffer a crushing defeat, for its statehood to collapse. It didn’t work out. And then they got stuck in that groove and now they can’t get out of it.”
The Russian leader revealed that Moscow had proposed a prisoner-of-war (POW) exchange with Ukraine earlier in May, but claimed Kyiv did not follow through. “As early as 5 May, we conveyed to the Ukrainian side a proposal on a POW exchange and sent a list of 500 Ukrainian servicemen currently held in Russia,” Putin stated. “First, Kiev said the list needed to be studied more carefully… perhaps not all 500, but, say, 200 people could be exchanged. Then the Ukrainian side effectively went silent and stated outright that it was not ready for this exchange.”
Putin noted that Moscow later welcomed a similar proposal from US President Donald Trump and extended the ceasefire by two days in hopes of facilitating the exchange. He also expressed openness to meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, but emphasized that talks should occur only after substantial progress toward a peace agreement. “As for Zelensky’s proposal for a personal meeting — sure, let whoever wants to meet come to Moscow,” Putin said. “A meeting can also take place in a third country, but only once final agreements have been reached on a peace treaty designed for a long-term historical perspective.”
Putin described the conflict as fundamentally between Russia and Ukraine, though he welcomed US efforts to broker a settlement. “The conflict primarily concerns Russia and Ukraine. If others want to help — and we can see that the current US Administration and the US President sincerely seek a settlement — we can only be grateful,” he said.
Russia launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine on February 24, 2022, marking the beginning of the current phase of the protracted conflict.
