Kremlin repeats Putin’s assertion that Ukraine war is nearly over after Zelenskiy casts doubt

MOSCOW, May 12 (Reuters) – The Kremlin repeated Russian President Vladimir Putin’s claim that the war in Ukraine is almost over on Tuesday, after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said Moscow had no intention of ending the war.

“I think this issue is coming to an end,” Putin told reporters on Saturday about the war, which is in its fifth year.

Asked to comment on Putin’s remarks, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that a certain amount of trilateral work has been done with Ukraine and the United States towards finding a peace agreement.

“This accumulated groundwork in terms of the peace process allows us to say that the process is indeed nearing completion,” Peskov told reporters, but added that it was difficult to give specific details at the moment.

On Monday, Zelenskiy said: “Russia has no intention of ending this war. And unfortunately, we are preparing for new attacks.”

US President Donald Trump has held numerous meetings with warring parties to end the conflict, but no peace agreement has emerged. Russia, which currently occupies about a fifth of Ukraine, wants Kiev to give up additional territory. Kiev wants Russian troops to withdraw.

Peskov said Russia would welcome US mediation efforts and that Putin was ready to meet Zelenskiy personally after the peace process is completed.

“And a lot of preparatory work still needs to be done to put a complete end to this outcome,” he said, adding that the conflict could end “as soon as Kiev and Zelenskiy take the necessary decision.” he said.

The warring parties agreed to a brief, US-brokered ceasefire from May 9 to 11, coinciding with the anniversary of the Soviet victory over the Nazis in World War II.

Although neither side reported large-scale airstrikes during the ceasefire, both said fighting continued on the front lines and accused each other of drone and artillery strikes.

(Reported by Dmitry AntonovWriting by Maxim Rodionov and Alessandra PrenticeEdited by Guy Faulconbridge, Peter Graff)