The Russian leader added that a meeting with Ukraine’s Zelensky was possible only once a lasting peace deal was reached
Russia’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine triggered the most serious crisis in relations between Russia and the West since the 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis, when many people feared the world was on the brink of nuclear war.
“I think that the matter is coming to an end,” Putin told reporters of the Ukraine war.
Putin was speaking in the Kremlin after Russia held its most scaled-back Victory Day parade in years.
The May 9 national holiday celebrates the Soviet Union’s victory over Nazi Germany in World War II and pays homage to the 27 million Soviet citizens who perished in the war.
No tanks for Russia Victory Day parade 2026Victory in Ukraine, though, has been elusive for Russia.
