this post was submitted on 09 May 2026
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Russian President Vladimir Putin on Saturday hinted that the Ukraine war could soon end. Speaking to reporters after marking Russia's Victory Day parade, Putin said: "I think that the ‌matter is coming to an end." The comment was made in response to a question about whether Western help to Ukraine went too far. The Russian leader said: "They started ratcheting up the confrontation with Russia, which continues to this day. I think it is heading to an end, but it's still a serious matter."

Putin's remarks come as Kyiv and Moscow observe a three-day ceasefire in Russia's war in Ukraine this weekend. The truce was announced on Friday by US President Donald Trump after negotiations brokered by Washington. European Council President Antonio Costa on Thursday said the European Union was prepared to hold separate talks with Russia and Ukraine “when the right moment comes."

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[–] acchariya@lemmy.world 2 points 20 minutes ago* (last edited 19 minutes ago) (1 children)

He can't end the war. He'd have to admit that 500,000 young Russian men are not fighting at the front lines, but are dead and not coming home. The loved ones are going to hang him when they find out.

[–] Dogiedog64@lemmy.world 1 points 5 minutes ago

Fuck, dude, they might hang him even before that, given how ratfucked their economy has become. It sounds like their bond market is just outright collapsing and he just doesn't care.

https://finance.yahoo.com/economy/articles/russian-debt-defaults-surging-quarter-193321893.html

[–] chronicledmonocle@lemmy.world 11 points 8 hours ago

Putin: "The war will be over soon"

Trump: "The war will be over soon"

At least the liars lies are easy to spot, because they're so transparent.

[–] 0_o7@lemmy.dbzer0.com 7 points 9 hours ago

I hope he picked his favorite handgun to do what he must.

[–] darkmogool@feddit.org 6 points 12 hours ago

So is he leaving?

[–] newton@feddit.online 4 points 11 hours ago* (last edited 11 hours ago)

Started with the war again

[–] GarboDog@lemmy.world 30 points 18 hours ago* (last edited 18 hours ago)

Yeah with him losing because someone inside is gonna get fed up with him enough and convince gods buddy with the guards to let them just finish him off early before old age to save their own country.

Our Ukraine just straight up wins and takes control of Moscow or something idk, that would end it pretty abruptly too yeah

[–] ruuster13@lemmy.zip 80 points 22 hours ago (3 children)

His little operation convinced Europe to rearm and made Ukraine a security exporter. Now he's down in a bunker desperately looking for ways to save face before the tide turns furher against him.

[–] drmoose@lemmy.world 30 points 17 hours ago (1 children)

No matter how you look at this Russia has lost and this is exactly why, even if you ignore ethics, dictatorships don't work long term. It just takes one failure like this to set back decades of work. It happens to every dictatorship eventually.

[–] BarneyPiccolo@lemmy.cafe 3 points 7 hours ago

At least Putin took years to finally fail. Trump is managing into do it within his first couple of years.

[–] SirEDCaLot@lemmy.today 29 points 18 hours ago (1 children)

Exactly this. Ukraine has started open cooperation with foreign weapons companies, inviting them to come test their autonomous systems in real battlefield conditions. Given that the rest of Europe is arming up against potential Russian hostility, the opportunity to test your new weapons against their most likely opponent is a golden ticket. My guess is a lot of these new designs are proving effective, and Putin is realizing that any more 'special military operations' will be taken as proof positive that Russia has turned conquistador and met with overwhelming force by most of the rest of Europe.

It's also possible he's just running out of troops. The last estimate I saw was something like 340,000 Russian casualties...

[–] egrets@lemmy.world 14 points 15 hours ago* (last edited 15 hours ago) (3 children)

The last estimate I saw was something like 340,000 Russian casualties

You missed a million! Circa 1,339,190 Russians killed or injured since the invasion began.

[–] BarneyPiccolo@lemmy.cafe 4 points 6 hours ago

Just for context, America lost about 58,000 soldiers in 10-12 years in Vietnam, and about 4000 on 20 years in Afghanistan.

Putin has lost 1.3 MILLION+ soldiers in a only 2-3 years. He's gone from a voluntary military, to a draft, to commuting prison sentences, to literally snatching military age males off the streets, to hiring mercenaries. He's quickly running out options for his war machine.

[–] perestroika@slrpnk.net 9 points 11 hours ago

Their sources likely count differently. Dead only, vs. dead + wounded.

[–] tomiant@piefed.social 1 points 12 hours ago
[–] Riverside@reddthat.com -4 points 10 hours ago (1 children)

If by "security exporter" you mean "providing training and weapons to Israel and to terrorists in the Sahel"

[–] DarrinBrunner@lemmy.world 115 points 1 day ago

As if he's not in complete control of when it ends.

[–] notabot@piefed.social 91 points 1 day ago (3 children)

The comment was made in response to a question about whether Western help to Ukraine went too far. The Russian leader said: “They started ratcheting up the confrontation with Russia, which continues to this day. I think it is heading to an end, but it’s still a serious matter.”

I'm not reading that as him saying Russia are going to stop, but that he thinks that the West will stop providing aid to Ukraine soon. Considering that his Washington puppet is doing their best to destabilise NATO, and Europe in general, he could easily be hoping for aid to be cut.

[–] starik@lemmy.zip 3 points 11 hours ago

Yes, whoever wrote the headline seems to have misinterpreted what he said.

[–] Buffalox@lemmy.world 11 points 16 hours ago

he could easily be hoping for aid to be cut.

That's just flat out wrong, European countries have shown they are willing to support Ukraine for as long as it is needed.
And have increased aid to cover the loss from USA not helping. There are also long term aid packages like the Swedish Vigen jet fighters that will ensure Ukraine is continuing to strengthen in their military capabilities.

[–] marcos@lemmy.world 34 points 23 hours ago (1 children)

So he didn't notice that Europe created an alternative NATO and just didn't invite the US?

Nope, he's smarter than that. The entire thing is just bullshit for the Russian population.

[–] hitmyspot@aussie.zone 16 points 18 hours ago (1 children)

Not to mention the loss of Hungary as a spanner in the works of EU response.

[–] manxu@piefed.social 12 points 18 hours ago

Or the 90 billion loan just approved, that should give Ukraine a lot of breathing room.

[–] Zier@fedia.io 35 points 1 day ago

Never trust putin.

[–] lennybird@lemmy.world 21 points 23 hours ago

That is up to Zelenskyy; not bunker bitch.

[–] Triumph@fedia.io 37 points 1 day ago (1 children)

At this point, I think the war is over when Ukraine says its over.

[–] FiniteBanjo@feddit.online 8 points 1 day ago (1 children)

I think it pretty much only ends when one side agrees to give territory to the other in order to end it.

[–] CaliforniaSober@lemmy.ca 7 points 23 hours ago (2 children)

Are you implying Russia has territory like Crimea to GIVE?

[–] FiniteBanjo@feddit.online 8 points 23 hours ago

Russia occupies a lot of Ukrainian territory since the start of the three day operation years ago, Ukraine occupies a little of Russia's last time I checked.

[–] StealthLizardDrop@piefed.social 2 points 21 hours ago (1 children)

I mean i whole heartedly agree that Ukraine should gets its pre 2014 borders back, but lets be realistic here that will not happen in any ceasefire today... in best case case scenario the new borders would be drawn at the current contact lines.

[–] UniversalBasicJustice@quokk.au 9 points 20 hours ago

Which is why Ukraine will decide when the war is over.

[–] resipsaloquitur@lemmy.cafe 38 points 1 day ago (1 children)

A three ~~hour~~ day ~~tour~~ special military operation.

[–] Tango@piefed.ca 1 points 44 minutes ago

Seems like a perfect foundation for an SNL skit: Gilligan's Island except with:

  • Putin as the Skipper
  • Lukashenko as Gilligan
  • Steven Seagal as Ginger, the Movie Star
  • etc

It's perfect for SNL due to how nobody under 30 will get any of the outdated pop culture references

[–] realitista@lemmus.org 14 points 1 day ago

It will end with Putler's head on a pike.

[–] kurmudgeon@lemmy.world 6 points 22 hours ago

Sounds to me like Putin is a scared little bitch these days.

[–] A_norny_mousse@piefed.zip 12 points 1 day ago (2 children)

Wow, coming from him, that's pretty big.

Let's see if deeds follow words. I highly doubt it.

It could be mere opinion chess. Make Ukraine look war hungry in this farce some people call "peace negotiations"

[–] green_red_black@slrpnk.net 11 points 1 day ago

I mean when this all started he swore it would be a three day special operation and his puppet keeps changing wheatear or not the US is at war with Iran

[–] FiniteBanjo@feddit.online 8 points 1 day ago (2 children)

Putin is a lot like his puppet Trump. He can say this "special operation" is over as many times as he likes, that doesn't make it true.

[–] rayyy@piefed.social 1 points 12 hours ago

Funny how Putin and his orange sock puppet do the same things. Maybe its those long telephone calls.

[–] Pringles@sopuli.xyz 3 points 17 hours ago (1 children)

Nonetheless, this is the first time he has openly spoken about bringing the war to an end. Until now the narrative was that it will continue until complete victory. That's why this acknowledgement is a much more momentous statement than the actual meaning of what he said.

That being said, at this point I think the Ukrainians might keep the war going until they get complete victory. Although they are also incredibly war weary, so probably not.

[–] phutatorius@lemmy.zip 2 points 14 hours ago

Talk's cheap. Watch his actions.

[–] Pat_Riot@lemmy.today 11 points 1 day ago

Ready to give up, are you?