Russian President Vladimir Putin suggested the war in Ukraine was drawing to a close — just hours after he vowed to triumph at Moscow’s puniest Victory Day parade in years.

“I think that the matter is coming to an end,” Putin told reporters inside the Kremlin Saturday about the four-year-long war.

Putin said the United States — which he referred to as a “partner” and “friend” during his remarks, alongside the likes of China and India — was eager to help broker a deal.
Russian President Vladimir Putin speaking to the media at the Kremlin.Russian President Vladimir Putin says he believes the Ukraine war is close to ending. POOL/AFP via Getty Images

“Clearly, they have no need for this conflict, as they have many other priorities,” he said.

“But this is, first and foremost, a matter for Russia and Ukraine.”

The strongman said he would be willing to sit-down with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in a neutral country, but only once final agreements to end the war have been reached.

“This must be the final step, not some negotiations,” Putin said, according to state-run TASS news agency.

“I have never refused” to meet Zelensky, he claimed. “I am not proposing this meeting, but if someone proposes it, then let them come. Whoever wants to meet should come to Moscow, and we will meet.”

He lashed out at “globalist” Western leaders, saying they pledged after the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989 that NATO would not expand eastward — only to later pull Ukraine toward their orbit.

His remarks come on the heels of a fragile three-day cease-fire between the warring countries brokered by Washington to coincide with Russia’s annual Victory Day parade, marking the Soviet Union’s historic victory over Nazi Germany in World War II.

“Hopefully, it is the beginning of the end of a very long, deadly, and hard fought War,” President Trump posted on Truth Social.

Trump said he was ready to send a high-powered US delegation into Moscow as part of an intensified push to end the deadly conflict, with talks stalled since the start of the war in Iran on Feb. 28.

“I would very much like to see the end of the conflict,” Trump told reporters during a press gaggle near the White House Saturday.

The two sides are still far apart when it comes to a deal though, with the main obstacle over who will get control of the contested Donbas region.