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Putin Signals Ukraine War “Coming to End” as Ceasefire Holds
Russian President Vladimir Putin said Saturday he believes the war in Ukraine is nearing its conclusion, a statement delivered just hours after a scaled-back Victory Day parade and the start of a U.S.-brokered ceasefire.
“I think that the matter is coming to an end,” Putin told reporters in the Kremlin.
His remarks followed a national holiday celebration where he had earlier vowed victory in a conflict he described as Europe’s deadliest since World War Two.
Putin expressed a newfound willingness to negotiate new security arrangements for Europe.
He specifically identified former German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder as his preferred negotiating partner to resolve the crisis.
The Kremlin noted that while peace talks brokered by U.S. President Donald Trump’s administration are currently on pause, the two nations successfully coordinated a three-day ceasefire from Saturday to Monday.
As part of the truce, Moscow and Kyiv agreed to exchange 1,000 prisoners.
In Washington, President Trump signaled an urgent need for a permanent resolution.
“I'd like to see it stop. Russia-Ukraine - it's the worst thing since World War Two in terms of life. Twenty-five thousand young soldiers every month. It's crazy,” Trump told reporters, adding that he would “like to see a big extension” of the current pause in fighting.
The calls for peace come at a time of visible strain.
During Saturday’s Victory Day parade—which commemorates the Soviet triumph over Nazi Germany—the usual display of intercontinental ballistic missiles and tanks rolling across Red Square was absent. Instead, Russia displayed videos of military hardware on giant screens.
Russian troops have now been fighting in Ukraine for over four years, a duration longer than the Soviet Union’s involvement in the “Great Patriotic War” of 1941-45.
Putin reiterated his stance on the causes of the “special military operation,” blaming “globalist” Western leaders for the breakdown in relations.
He alleged that the West reneged on promises that NATO would not expand eastward after the 1989 fall of the Berlin Wall and criticized efforts to pull Ukraine into the European Union’s orbit.
While Putin maintained that Russia would fight until its war aims are achieved, the current ceasefire remains intact with no reported violations from either side.
