Putin Signals Ukraine War May End Soon, Willing to Meet Zelenskyy in Third Country

Russian President Vladimir Putin said the war in Ukraine could soon be over and expressed readiness to meet his Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelenskyy in a third country if a long-term peace agreement is signed. Putin made the remarks to reporters on Saturday (May 25), following the smallest Victory Day military parade in years.

The comments came as Russia and Ukraine began a three-day ceasefire and agreed to exchange 1,000 prisoners, raising cautious hopes for new diplomatic progress. During the parade, Putin praised Russian troops fighting in Ukraine, calling their mission “righteous” against “aggressive forces equipped and backed by the entire NATO bloc.”

“Victory has always been ours and will always be ours,” he added as columns of soldiers marched across Moscow’s Red Square. Speaking to reporters later, Putin blamed the war on Western “global elites,” accusing them of promising that NATO would not expand eastward after the Berlin Wall fell in 1989, but later seeking to pull Ukraine into the European Union’s orbit.

This year’s Victory Day parade was more subdued than usual, with footage of military hardware displayed on large screens instead of tanks and missile systems rolling across Red Square. For the first time, the parade included North Korean soldiers, in recognition of Pyongyang sending troops to fight alongside Moscow’s forces to repel Ukraine’s incursion into Russia’s Kursk region.

Russia had announced a unilateral ceasefire for the holiday on Friday and Saturday, while Zelenskyy declared a ceasefire expected to start on May 6, but neither side adhered to it, blaming each other for ongoing attacks. Concerns about the holiday subsided on Friday, when U.S. President Donald Trump announced that Russia and Ukraine had agreed to his request for a ceasefire from Saturday to Monday and a prisoner exchange.

“This ceasefire will include a pause in all hostilities, and an exchange of 1,000 prisoners from each country,” Trump wrote on Truth Social. “Negotiations are ongoing” to end the war, Trump said, and “hopefully this is the beginning of the end of a very long, deadly and brutal war.”

Zelenskyy then issued a sarcastic decree allowing Russia to hold its Victory Day celebrations, declaring Red Square temporarily out of range of Ukrainian strikes. The Kremlin dismissed the comment as a “silly joke.”

Zelenskyy had earlier proposed meeting Putin for peace talks but rejected the Russian leader’s offer to come to Moscow. On Saturday, Putin told reporters he could meet Zelenskyy in a third country, but only to approve a comprehensive agreement. “A meeting in a third country is also possible, but only after the peace treaty aimed at a long-term historical perspective is finalized. This must be a final agreement, not negotiations,” Putin said.

Putin, who has led Russia as either president or prime minister since late 1999, faces a wave of anxiety in Moscow over the Ukraine war, which has killed hundreds of thousands, devastated large parts of Ukraine, and drained Russia’s $3 trillion economy. Russian forces have been fighting in Ukraine for more than four years, longer than the Soviet Union fought in World War II, but have not captured all of the Donbas region in eastern Ukraine. Russian advances have slowed this year even as Moscow controls nearly one-fifth of Ukrainian territory.

European Council President Antonio Costa said last week there was potential for talks between Europe and Russia on the continent’s future security architecture. When asked if he was ready to engage in negotiations with Europe, Putin said his preferred interlocutor was former German Chancellor Gerhard Schroder. “For me personally, the former chancellor of the Federal Republic of Germany, Mr. Schroder, is a priority,” Putin said.