the matter is coming to an end, but it's still a serious matter
Five years into a war that has consumed hundreds of thousands of lives and redrawn the contours of European order, Vladimir Putin stood before cameras to declare the conflict winding down — even as a fragile ceasefire frayed at its edges and Moscow's Victory Day parade stood diminished, stripped of tanks and foreign allies. He offered no concrete path to peace, only conditions and preferences, naming a former German chancellor as his preferred interlocutor and insisting any meeting with Zelenskyy would be ceremony, not negotiation. History has seen such moments before: leaders announcing endings while the machinery of war continues to turn, and the distance between declaration and reality measured in lives.
- Putin declared the war 'coming to an end' without offering a single concrete peace term, framing the entire conflict as a Western miscalculation that Russia had simply outlasted.
- A three-day ceasefire announced by Russia, Ukraine, and the Trump administration collapsed almost immediately into mutual accusations of violations, drone strikes, and mounting civilian casualties.
- Moscow's Victory Day parade — once a commanding display of military power and international prestige — was stripped of tanks, artillery, and major foreign leaders, with only a handful of smaller allied states in attendance.
- Putin named Gerhard Schröder, the former German chancellor and longtime Kremlin ally, as his preferred European negotiating partner, a pointed signal about which voices he believes should shape Europe's future security arrangements.
- Zelenskyy responded by marking Europe Day instead, reaffirming Ukraine's place within the European family, even as EU officials quietly acknowledged the possibility of direct negotiations with Russia over the continent's security architecture.
Vladimir Putin appeared before reporters on Saturday to declare the war in Ukraine was winding down — a claim delivered against the backdrop of Moscow's most subdued Victory Day parade in nearly two decades. No tanks rolled through Red Square. The foreign dignitaries who once filled the stands were largely absent, replaced by a thin gathering of Belarus, Malaysia, Laos, Uzbekistan, and Kazakhstan. The contrast between Putin's confident words and the diminished spectacle around him was difficult to ignore.
Now in its fifth year, the war has killed hundreds of thousands and left vast stretches of Ukraine in ruin. Russian forces hold roughly a fifth of Ukrainian territory but have stalled in the Donbas, where Ukrainian defenders hold their lines. Putin blamed the West for prolonging the conflict, arguing that Western powers had expected Russia to collapse and were now trapped in a confrontation of their own making. He expressed willingness to negotiate new European security arrangements — but only on his terms, and only after all conditions were pre-settled, reducing any potential meeting with Zelenskyy to a formality rather than a genuine dialogue.
When asked which European leader he preferred to engage, Putin named Gerhard Schröder — the former German chancellor who had long championed Russian energy interests and met with Putin even after the 2022 invasion drew international condemnation. The choice was deliberate: a signal that Putin envisions Europe's diplomatic future running through figures willing to engage Russia on favorable terms, not through the current Western establishment.
A three-day ceasefire had been announced Friday by Russia, Ukraine, and the Trump administration, but it frayed almost immediately. Both sides accused each other of violations. Drone activity continued. The Kremlin stated there were no plans to extend the truce, though both sides agreed in principle to exchange a thousand prisoners each.
Zelenskyy chose to mark Europe Day on Saturday, describing Ukraine's bond with Europe not as charity received but as a choice made — a choice to stand with the brave. Meanwhile, European Council president António Costa acknowledged that the EU might need to engage Russia directly over the future of the continent's security architecture. The war grinds on, but the diplomatic landscape around it is quietly, cautiously beginning to shift.
Vladimir Putin stood before reporters on Saturday and declared that the war in Ukraine was winding down. Hours earlier, he had presided over Moscow's most subdued Victory Day parade in nearly two decades—a military spectacle stripped of tanks, artillery, and the foreign dignitaries who once crowded the stands. The contrast was stark: a leader claiming momentum while the machinery of state pageantry shrank around him.
The war, now in its fifth year, has killed hundreds of thousands of people and reshaped the map of Europe. Russian forces control roughly one-fifth of Ukrainian territory but have stalled in their push to seize the entire Donbas region, where Ukrainian defenders hold fortress cities along a grinding defensive line. Moscow's economy has been drained by the conflict. Relations between Russia and Europe have deteriorated to levels unseen since the Cold War's darkest hours. Into this landscape of attrition, Putin offered his assessment: the matter was coming to an end.
He blamed the West for prolonging the struggle, accusing Western powers of ratcheting up confrontation and then becoming trapped in a cycle they could not escape. They had expected Russia to collapse, he said. It had not. Now they were stuck. He expressed willingness to negotiate new security arrangements for Europe, but on his terms. He would meet Zelenskyy only in a third country, only after all conditions for a peace agreement had been settled—making any such meeting a formality rather than a negotiation. The actual talks, he suggested, would happen elsewhere, with other people.
When asked which European leader he preferred to negotiate with, Putin named Gerhard Schröder, the former German chancellor. The choice was deliberate and controversial. Schröder had long been close to Putin, had championed Russian business interests, and had backed the Nord Stream gas pipelines that bound Europe to Russian energy. In 2022, after the invasion began, Zelenskyy had called Schröder disgusting for meeting with Putin and speaking in his favor. The suggestion that Schröder might now broker peace talks signaled where Putin saw the future of European diplomacy—not with the United States or the current European establishment, but with figures willing to engage Russia on terms more favorable to Moscow.
On Friday, Russia, Ukraine, and the Trump administration had announced a three-day ceasefire beginning Saturday. The truce was fragile from the start. Both sides immediately accused each other of violations. Drone activity continued. Civilian casualties mounted. The Kremlin made clear there were no plans to extend the ceasefire beyond three days. Both sides agreed to exchange 1,000 prisoners each, though Putin said Russia had not yet received any proposals from Ukraine on the logistics.
The Victory Day parade itself told a story of strain. For the first time in nearly two decades, no military hardware rolled through Red Square. The foreign delegations were skeletal: only leaders from Belarus, Malaysia, Laos, Uzbekistan, and Kazakhstan attended. The previous year, Xi Jinping of China had been there. This year, the parade was a gathering of Russia's closest remaining allies—a sharp contraction from the international show of force Moscow had once commanded. In the week before, Russian officials had issued threats to bomb central Kyiv, including foreign embassies, warning overseas missions to evacuate staff. The message was clear: protect this parade, or else.
Zelenskyy, for his part, had issued a decree allowing the parade to proceed. On Saturday, he observed Europe Day instead, marking what he called Ukraine's inseparable bond with the European family. Europe had stood with Ukraine from the first day of the full-scale war, he said, and this was not charity but a choice—a choice to stand with the brave and the strong. The European Council president, António Costa, had recently suggested there was potential for the EU to negotiate with Russia over the future of Europe's security architecture. The diplomatic landscape was shifting, even as the war ground on.
Citações Notáveis
They spent months waiting for Russia to suffer a crushing defeat, for its statehood to collapse. It didn't work out. And then they got stuck in that groove and now they can't get out of it.— Vladimir Putin
From the first days of the full-scale war until today, Europe has stood with Ukraine. And this is not charity—it is a choice made by Europeans: to stand on the same side as the brave and the strong.— Volodymyr Zelenskyy
A Conversa do Hearth Outra perspectiva sobre a história
When Putin says the war is coming to an end, what does he actually mean? Is he signaling he's ready to stop fighting?
He's signaling something more subtle. He's saying the outcome is inevitable—that Russia will prevail—and that the West should accept this and negotiate. He's not saying Russia will withdraw. He's saying the West should stop supporting Ukraine because Ukraine cannot win.
But the parade was smaller. Fewer allies showed up. Doesn't that suggest weakness?
It does. A leader confident in victory doesn't need to threaten to bomb embassies to protect a military parade. The scaled-back ceremony, the absence of hardware, the thin roster of foreign guests—these are all signs of strain. Putin is managing perceptions while claiming strength.
Why does he want to negotiate with Schröder instead of, say, the Americans or the current German government?
Because Schröder has always been sympathetic to Russian interests. He's a figure from an older Europe, one that was willing to do business with Russia on Russia's terms. Naming him is a way of saying: I want to negotiate with people who understand my position, not people who are committed to Ukraine's victory.
The ceasefire is only three days. Both sides are already accusing each other of violations. Does that mean it will collapse?
Almost certainly. A three-day ceasefire is not designed to hold. It's designed to reset the narrative, to show that talks are possible, to give each side a chance to reposition. When it ends, the war resumes, but the diplomatic groundwork has been laid.
What does Zelenskyy's Europe Day speech suggest about Ukraine's strategy?
That Ukraine is betting on Europe, not on a negotiated settlement with Russia. He's saying Ukraine belongs to Europe, not to Russia's sphere. It's a counter-narrative to Putin's claim that the war is ending on Russian terms. Zelenskyy is saying: we will endure, and Europe will stand with us.