Politics

Putin claims Russia ready to 'reach an agreement with Ukraine'

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Putin claims Russia ready to 'reach an agreement with Ukraine'
Vladimir Putin in Yerevan, Armenia, on Nov. 23, 2022. (Karen Minasyan/AFP/Getty Images)

Russian President Vladimir Putin claimed on June 4 that Russia is ready to reach an agreement to end its war against Ukraine.

"Without doubt, we are ready and willing to reach an agreement with Ukraine by peaceful means — and based on what we have discussed at the meeting with President (Donald) Trump in Anchorage. At that meeting, certain questions were put before Russia so that we could agree on certain compromises," Putin claimed, according to the Russian leader's office.

Kremlin officials have repeatedly referenced the August 2025 meeting between Putin and Trump in Anchorage, claiming understandings pertaining to Ukraine were made.

At the summit, Moscow asked Washington to pressure Ukraine to withdraw from Donbas, which includes both Luhansk and Donetsk oblasts, one person familiar with the discussions confirmed to the Kyiv Independent in April.

"Russia agrees to the compromises discussed in Anchorage. It is necessary that Ukraine also agrees to make them. Then, the conflict will be resolved naturally and quickly," Putin said.

Although no breakthroughs have been made in peace talks, Putin has changed his tone toward negotiations as Ukraine has intensified strikes on Russian military and energy infrastructure in recent months.

On May 9, Putin said 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.

Ukrainian forces struck the St. Petersburg Oil Terminal in Russia's Leningrad Oblast in the early hours of June 3, President Volodymyr Zelensky said.

The attack unfolded as dignitaries arrived for the 2026 St. Petersburg International Economic Forum, an annual conference of business leaders and government officials hosted by Putin.

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Volodymyr Ivanyshyn

News Editor

Volodymyr Ivanyshyn is a news editor for The Kyiv Independent. He is pursuing an Honors Bachelor of Arts at the University of Toronto, majoring in political science with a minor in anthropology and human geography. Volodymyr holds a Certificate in Business Fundamentals from Rotman Commerce at the University of Toronto. He previously completed an internship with The Kyiv Independent.

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"Almost half of your 26 years of power in Russia you have spent in the war against Ukraine," Zelensky wrote to Russian President Vladimir Putin. "Whatever you say about NATO, geopolitics and the Russian language, this war is your personal choice — a war without a real reason. This is how history will remember it."

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