Newsletters
Russian President Vladimir Putin stated on Saturday he believes the Ukraine war is "coming to an end," declaring the West was "stuck in a groove" after failing to bring about Russia's collapse.
The Russian president's remarks came hours after Moscow held its most scaled-back Victory Day parade in years, with no military hardware on Red Square for the first time in nearly two decades.
"I think that the matter is coming to an end," Putin told reporters at a press conference in Moscow following the parade.
"I think it is heading to an end, but it's still a serious matter. 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," he said of Western governments.
He accused Western politicians of trying to "escalate confrontation" with Moscow, saying: "They started ratcheting up the confrontation with Russia, which continues to this day."
Putin reiterated his longstanding condition for meeting his Ukrainian counterpart, saying a third-country summit was possible only after all terms of a peace treaty had been finalized.
"It is possible to meet in a third country, but only if final agreements have been reached on a peace treaty. This should be the final point, not the negotiations themselves," he said, adding that such an agreement must be "designed for a long-term historical perspective."
He said he had "never refused" a meeting with Zelenskyy and had "heard once again" through Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico that Zelenskyy was willing to meet.
Putin also said Russia had immediately supported U.S. President Donald Trump's 1,000-for-1,000 prisoner exchange proposal but had not yet received proposals from Ukraine, noting: "We hope that in this case, the Ukrainian side will respond to the US president's proposal. Unfortunately, we have not received any proposals so far."
He added that Russia had earlier proposed a 500-for-500 swap to which Kyiv initially responded skeptically before going silent entirely.
On European security negotiations, Putin named former German Chancellor Gerhard Schroder as his preferred partner, saying, "For me personally, the former chancellor of the Federal Republic of Germany, (Mr.) Schroder is preferable."
Schroder has faced widespread condemnation in Ukraine and Europe for his close ties with Putin and his involvement in Russian energy projects, including Nord Stream.
Zelenskyy called Schroder "disgusting" in 2022 for meeting Putin after the full-scale invasion.
The May 9 parade on Red Square, marking Russia's most revered national holiday, was dramatically scaled back.
No tanks, intercontinental ballistic missiles, or missile systems rolled across the cobblestones for the first time in nearly two decades. Instead, footage of Russian military hardware in action was displayed on giant screens.
Soldiers, including North Korean troops who fought in Russia's Kursk region, marched past Putin, who gave an eight-minute speech pledging victory in Ukraine: "Our heroes march forward."
Only the leaders of Belarus, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Laos and Malaysia attended, a sharp contrast to last year when China's Xi Jinping was present.
Russia had warned Ukraine that any disruption of the parade would trigger a massive missile strike on Kyiv, prompting Moscow to tell foreign embassies to evacuate their staff.
Zelenskyy responded with a tongue-in-cheek decree "allowing" the parade to proceed, saying Ukrainian weapons would not target Red Square.
Trump announced Friday that Russia and Ukraine had agreed to a three-day ceasefire running through Monday, alongside the prisoner exchange.
"I'd like to see it stop. Russia-Ukraine, it's the worst thing since World War II in terms of life. Twenty-five thousand young soldiers every month. It's crazy," Trump told reporters.
He said he would like to see "a big extension" of the truce. The Kremlin said there were no plans to prolong it. Trump wrote on Truth Social: "Hopefully, it is the beginning of the end of a very long, deadly, and hard-fought war."
In a separate exchange at the same press conference, Putin said Russia would not block Armenia's potential EU accession, calling it a matter for the Armenian people to decide, ideally through a referendum.
He said Moscow and Yerevan had discussed the issue multiple times and that "if a particular decision benefits the Armenian people, then go ahead, we won't object."
He did note that Armenia benefits significantly from EAEU membership and should decide "as soon as possible" whether to remain in the bloc or pursue EU membership, warning of the need for a "gentle, intelligent, and mutually beneficial divorce" if Yerevan ultimately chose Brussels.
Set as preferred source
Set as preferred source
1 min read
1 min read
