{"id":661897,"date":"2026-05-10T13:39:11","date_gmt":"2026-05-10T13:39:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/661897\/"},"modified":"2026-05-10T13:39:11","modified_gmt":"2026-05-10T13:39:11","slug":"putin-claims-war-coming-to-an-end-and-offers-to-meet-zelensky-in-moscow","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/661897\/","title":{"rendered":"Putin Claims War \u2018Coming to an End\u2019 and Offers to Meet Zelensky in Moscow"},"content":{"rendered":"

In a series of statements following the Victory Day parade on Saturday<\/a>, May 9, Russian President Vladimir Putin<\/a> suggested that the war in Ukraine is nearing its conclusion and addressed the possibility of a direct summit with President Volodymyr Zelensky<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think that the matter in the Ukrainian conflict is moving toward its end,\u201d Putin told reporters, according to Telegram channel Astra<\/a>, though he did not provide a specific timeline or evidence for this assessment.<\/p>\n

JOIN US ON TELEGRAM<\/p>\n

Follow our coverage of the war on the @Kyivpost_official<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Claims of past withdrawals and current mediation <\/p>\n

Putin repeated a narrative regarding Russia\u2019s retreat from Kyiv in early 2022, claiming the decision was a response to a request from French<\/a> President Emmanuel Macron<\/a>.<\/p>\n

According to Putin, Macron argued that Ukraine could not sign peace documents in Istanbul \u201cwith a gun to its head.\u201d Putin alleged that after the withdrawal, \u201cglobalist elites\u201d chose to continue the conflict in hopes of causing a Russian collapse.<\/p>\n

Regarding current diplomatic efforts, Putin and his aide Yuri Ushakov claimed that Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico had relayed signals of Zelensky\u2019s interest in a meeting.<\/p>\n

Ushakov stated that Putin is ready to receive Zelensky in Moscow. \u201cLet him call… we are ready to accept and conduct negotiations,\u201d Ushakov said.<\/p>\n

Putin noted he is open to meeting in a third country, but only after final agreements have been reached, primarily for the purpose of a formal signing ceremony.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\"EU<\/p>\n

<\/a><\/p>\n

Other Topics of Interest<\/p>\n

EU President Signals Readiness for Russia Dialogue at \u2018Right Moment\u2019<\/a><\/p>\n

Speaking at a \u2018Europe Day\u2019 celebration in Brussels on Saturday, May 9, European Council President Ant\u00f3nio Costa emphasized that the EU will only engage in direct talks with Vladimir Putin at the \u201cright moment\u201d to avoid disrupting President Donald Trump\u2019s diplomatic initiative. The remarks follow reports suggesting the EU was preparing for immediate peace talks. While EU officials acknowledge that speaking to Moscow is an \u201cexistential issue\u201d for European security, they maintain there is currently no evidence of Russian willingness to engage in a just peace.<\/p>\n

The Office of the President of Ukraine was swift to respond to the Kremlin\u2019s invitation. Serhiy Leshchenko, an advisor to the Office of the President, stated during a national telethon that while Zelensky is open to negotiations, Moscow is out of the question.<\/p>\n

\u201cMoscow is the capital of the aggressor state. Such a format of negotiations is impossible,\u201d Leshchenko said.<\/p>\n

President Zelensky had previously clarified his stance in April 2026, stating: \u201cI am ready to meet with Putin. Of course, not in Moscow and not in Kyiv. We can find a place in the Middle East<\/a>, Europe<\/a>, or the USA<\/a> \u2013 anywhere.\u201d<\/p>\n

Strategic Context and the 20-point plan <\/p>\n

The exchange of public signals comes as US-mediated efforts, led by US President Donald Trump\u2019s<\/a> team, attempt to revive a 20-point peace framework<\/a>.<\/p>\n

While a fragile three-day ceasefire is currently in place to facilitate a massive prisoner exchange<\/a>, the core diplomatic issues \u2013 including territorial control and security guarantees \u2013 remain unresolved.<\/p>\n

The May 9 parade itself highlighted Russia\u2019s strained military capacity, featuring no heavy equipment for the first time in decades and a column of North Korean<\/a> troops, while Moscow remained protected by a temporary \u201cno-strike zone\u201d decreed by Zelensky<\/a> for humanitarian purposes.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"In a series of statements following the Victory Day parade on Saturday, May 9, Russian President Vladimir Putin…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":661898,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[43,44,41,39,42,40],"class_list":["post-661897","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-headlines","tag-headlines","tag-news","tag-top-news","tag-top-stories","tag-topnews","tag-topstories"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/661897","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=661897"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/661897\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/661898"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=661897"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=661897"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=661897"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}