Kremlin comments on Putin’s remarks about “conflict nearing its end”

Kremlin Spokesperson Dmitry Peskov, commenting on remarks made Saturday by Russian President Vladimir Putin that the war in Ukraine is allegedly nearing its end, said there is currently no concrete detail on the matter.

His comments were quoted by the Russian service of BBC and reported by Ukrinform.

“The groundwork that has been developed in terms of the peace process allows us to say that the end is indeed approaching, but it is impossible to speak about any specifics in this context at the moment,” Peskov said.

According to him, Putin was referring to the fact that “Russia remains open to contacts, that certain work has been done in a trilateral format, and that we would welcome continued mediation efforts by the United States.”

Peskov added that Russia’s war against Ukraine is ongoing but “could end at any moment,” though, according to him, Kyiv must take the “necessary steps” for that to happen.

“What decisions need to be made is well known in Kyiv,” Peskov stated.

The Kremlin Spokesperson also said that Putin is allegedly ready to meet with Volodymyr Zelensky outside Moscow only for the purpose of finalizing an end to the war.

“Speaking at a press conference in the Kremlin, [Putin] said he would be ready to meet with Zelensky at any moment in Moscow for negotiations, as well as at any other location, but meeting elsewhere only makes sense if the process is fully finalized,” Peskov said, adding that “a great deal of homework still needs to be done in order to put a full stop to this.”

Peskov also said the Kremlin hopes work on a prisoner exchange with Ukraine will be “finalized” in the near future. According to him, preparations for the exchange are ongoing, with “relevant services working in this direction.” However, he did not specify when the exchange might take place, according to the Russian service of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty.

Read also: Budanov: Ukraine ready for Zelensky-Putin talks if Kremlin is serious

As reported by Ukrinform, May 11 marked the final day of the ceasefire announced in the evening of May 8 by U.S. President Donald Trump, which was later confirmed by both Ukraine and Russia. Trump also said the two sides had agreed to conduct a 1,000-for-1,000 prisoner exchange during the ceasefire period.

On May 10, President Volodymyr Zelensky confirmed that preparations for the 1,000-for-1,000 exchange were underway. However, by the evening of May 11, no exchange had yet been announced.