Russian President Vladimir Putin on Saturday said he believed the conflict in Ukraine was coming to its end. He also hoped for the Iran conflict to end soon and said that everyone would lose out if it failed to happen.
Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022 led to the biggest breakdown in ties between Moscow and the West since the 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis, a period when fears of a nuclear conflict had spread across the world.
Russia-Ukraine war coming to an end?
“I think that the matter is coming to an end,” Putin told reporters while speaking about the war in Ukraine.
When asked whether he was open to talks with European leaders, Putin said his preferred person for discussions was former German chancellor Gerhard Schroeder.
The Financial Times reported on Thursday that European Union leaders were getting ready for possible negotiations.
Putin’s condition for meeting with Zelensky
The Russian president said on Saturday that he would meet Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky only after a permanent peace agreement had been finalised.
Last week, the Kremlin said European countries would have to take the first step because they had cut ties with Moscow in 2022 after the Ukraine war began.
Russia-Ukraine ceasefire in place
Moscow and Kyiv both agreed to observe a three-day ceasefire during Russia’s annual Victory Day parade in Red Square, following a late appeal by US President Donald Trump. Moscow had warned of a “massive” strike on central Kyiv if Ukraine tried to disrupt the event.
Putin has turned the Soviet Union’s victory over Nazi Germany in World War II into a key part of his 25-year rule, and the parade is usually held on a grand scale.
Zelensky signed a decree on Friday directing the Ukrainian military not to target the parade. In another statement, he confirmed that Kyiv would follow the ceasefire so that 1,000 detainees from each side could be exchanged.
With inputs from agencies
