The war is “coming to an end,” Putin says. Under what conditions is he willing to meet with Zelensky
Russian President Vladimir Putin assured on Saturday that the war in Ukraine is “coming to an end”, criticizing Western countries for the support given to Kiev, AFP and Reuters report, quoted by News.ro.
“They started escalating the confrontation with Russia, which continues today. I think it's coming to an end, but the situation remains serious,” he said when asked if Western aid to Ukraine was going too far.
The Russian president also said he would not meet with his Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelensky until after a lasting peace deal had been reached.
Russia's 2022 invasion of Ukraine triggered the worst crisis in relations between Russia and the West since the 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis, when many feared the world was on the brink of nuclear war.
Speech delivered on Victory Day
Putin spoke in the Kremlin after Russia staged its smallest Victory Day parade in years. The May 9 national holiday celebrates the Soviet Union's victory over Nazi Germany in World War II and pays tribute to the 27 million Soviet citizens who died in the war.
But in the more than four years of war in Ukraine—longer than World War II—victory has been elusive for Russia. In the four years of the bloodiest European conflict since World War II, Russian forces have so far failed to capture the entire Donbas region in eastern Ukraine.
The war has killed hundreds of thousands of people, left swaths of Ukraine in ruins and drained Russia's $3 trillion economy, while Russia's relations with Europe are worse than at any time since the height of the Cold War.
The Financial Times wrote on Thursday that the leaders of the European Union are preparing for possible talks with Moscow. Asked if he is willing to hold talks with the Europeans, Vladimir Putin said that the person he prefers is former German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder. “For me personally, the former chancellor of the Federal Republic of Germany, Mr. Schroeder, is preferable,” Putin said.
The Kremlin has said that European governments are the ones who must take the first step to resume dialogue, as they were the ones who cut off contact with Moscow in 2022 after the start of the war in Ukraine.
