Putin Says Ukraine War End Talk Reflects Russian Gains, Offers No Timeline
Updated
Updated · Reuters · May 29
Putin Says Ukraine War End Talk Reflects Russian Gains, Offers No Timeline
7 articles · Updated · Reuters · May 29
May 9 remarks about the Ukraine war "coming to an end" were based on Russia's battlefield advances, Vladimir Putin said Friday, while declining to say when the conflict might actually stop.
Putin also rejected Western claims that Russia was preparing for war with Europe and accused Western media of distorting coverage of what Moscow called a Ukrainian drone strike on a dormitory in Russian-controlled Luhansk that killed 21 people.
Volodymyr Zelenskiy said after meeting top commanders that Ukraine would keep hitting Russian logistics and oil-industry targets with long-range strikes to weaken Moscow's war effort.
The exchange underscores how both sides are publicly tying any path to peace to military pressure rather than to a near-term negotiated end.
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Four Years of War: Stalemate, Escalation Risks, and the Elusive Path to Peace in Ukraine (2022–2026)
Overview
In May 2026, President Putin suggested the war in Ukraine might be ending and proposed Gerhard Schroeder, a longtime ally, as mediator for peace talks with the EU. However, EU officials quickly rejected this idea, insisting that Ukraine must be directly involved in any negotiations. The Kremlin maintained its demand that Ukraine must 'give in,' highlighting a deep divide in preconditions for peace. This situation shows that, despite talk of ending the conflict, fundamental disagreements and mistrust between Russia, Ukraine, and the EU continue to block real progress toward a settlement.