Putin believes war in Ukraine is almost over
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Russian President Vladimir Putin said on May 9 that he believes the full-scale war in Ukraine will be over soon.
"I think the (war in Ukraine) is coming to an end," he told journalists at a Kremlin press conference following his muted Victory Day celebrations.
Putin blamed Western nations for escalating war with Russia, claiming that a "globalist wing of Western elites is fighting against us through the hands of Ukrainians" — a claim that ignores the fact that it was Russia that launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022.
In Putin's description, it is the West, not Russia, that got bogged down in Ukraine after failing to secure a swift victory.
"First of all, they were expecting a crushing defeat for Russia — as we know full well — and the collapse of its statehood within a matter of months," he said. "But then they got stuck in this rut, and now they simply cannot find a way out of it — that is the problem."
It's an apt summary of the state of the war, with one small adjustment: It is Russia that is stuck in a five-year-war, suffering enormous troop losses by the day while failing to secure its key military objectives.
The Russian leader also said he would be willing to meet President Volodymyr Zelensky in a third country — a shift from his usual invitation to host the Ukrainian president in Moscow.
Such a meeting would only be to sign and finalize an agreement, not to continue negotiations, Putin clarified.
Earlier in the day, presidential adviser Yuri Ushakov once again extended the Kremlin's standing invitation to Zelensky to meet with Putin in the Russian capital. Zelensky has repeatedly said he is willing to meet with Putin in any city that is not a party to the full-scale war.
Putin also said he would potentially be willing to meet with European leaders to negotiate an end to the war, particularly those leaders who had not disparaged Russia. His remarks come two days after European Council President Antonio Costa said EU leaders had begun preparing their own talks with Putin, according to the Financial Times.
