Vladimir Putin has said the war in Ukraine is “heading to an end,” even as the first day of a US-brokered ceasefire was marked by mutual accusations of violations between Moscow and Kyiv.
Putin made the remarks on Saturday after attending a scaled-down Victory Day parade in Moscow, where he again defended Russia’s military campaign in Ukraine and criticised continued Western support for Kyiv. Addressing Russian soldiers, he described them as facing “an aggressive force” backed by NATO and insisted that Moscow’s objectives in the conflict remain justified.
“They started ratcheting up the confrontation with Russia, which continues to this day,” Putin said, referring to Western countries supporting Ukraine. “I think it is heading to an end, but it’s still a serious matter.” He also accused Western governments of expecting Russia to collapse under wartime pressure.
“They spent months waiting for Russia to suffer a crushing defeat, for its statehood to collapse. It didn’t work out,” he said. “And then they got stuck in that groove, and now they can’t get out of it.”
The comments came as both Russia and Ukraine accused each other of breaching a three-day ceasefire announced by Donald Trump. While no major missile strikes were reported on the first day, both sides still recorded drone attacks and civilian casualties.
Trump described the ceasefire as a potential breakthrough, writing on Truth Social: “Hopefully, it is the beginning of the end of a very long, deadly, and hard-fought war.”
He also indicated that the truce would include a prisoner exchange, although the Kremlin later said there were no plans to extend the ceasefire beyond its agreed duration.
Both sides had reportedly agreed in principle to exchange 1,000 prisoners each, though Putin said Russia had not yet received formal proposals from Ukraine. He also stated he was open to meeting Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in a third country, but only after a full peace agreement framework had been reached.
“This should be the final point, not the negotiations themselves,” he said.
This year’s Victory Day parade in Moscow was notably scaled down, with no display of military hardware for the first time in nearly two decades. The reduction was linked to heightened security concerns following recent Ukrainian long-range strikes, with authorities also imposing internet restrictions during the event.
Putin used the ceremony to draw parallels between Russia’s current campaign and the Soviet Union’s victory in World War II, a recurring theme in his messaging.
“The great feat of the generation of victors inspires the soldiers carrying out the goals of the special military operation today,” he said, adding that Russian forces were confronting an “aggressive force” supported by NATO.
He concluded: “I firmly believe that our cause is just.” The event was attended mainly by leaders of Russia’s allied countries, including Belarus, Kazakhstan, Laos, Malaysia, and Uzbekistan, with North Korean troops also present.
The war in Ukraine, now in its fifth year, remains the deadliest conflict in Europe since World War II, with hundreds of thousands of casualties reported since it began.
