Russian President Vladimir Putin says he believes the war with Ukraine is “heading to an end”.
Putin spoke on Saturday while answering questions from journalists after events marking the 81st anniversary of the Soviet Union’s victory in World War II.
The remarks came as Russia and Ukraine began a three-day ceasefire and agreed to exchange 1,000 prisoners.
Putin criticised Western backing for Kyiv as Russia and Ukraine traded accusations of ceasefire violations on the first day of a temporary truce.
“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 said.
“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.
Putin relayed that Russia had proposed a prisoner-of-war (POW) exchange with Ukraine earlier this month, but claimed Kyiv failed to follow through on the arrangement.
“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,” he said.
“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.”
The Russian leader said Moscow later welcomed a similar proposal from US President Donald Trump and extended a ceasefire by two days in hopes that the exchange would still take place.
Putin also said he is open to a meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, but underlined that talks should only happen after substantial progress towards a peace agreement.
“As for Zelensky’s proposal for a personal meeting — sure, let whoever wants to meet come to Moscow,” he 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.”
He said the war is fundamentally between Russia and Ukraine, although he welcomed efforts by the United States to help 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,” Putin said.
Russia launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine on February 24, 2022, marking the commencement of the current phase of the protracted conflict.
