LOS ANGELES (OC).–Russian President Vladimir Putin said in the Kremlin that he saw the Ukraine War coming to an end sometime soon. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and his European Union partners have refused to cede Putin any land in the eastern Donbas region that includes Donetsk and Luhansk, both Russian-speaking enclaves wanting no part of the Kiev government since the 2014 Maiden Revolution. “I think that the matter is coming to an end,” Putin said about the Russian-Ukraine War. Putin said he was willing to negotiate and end to the war, suggesting that former German Chancellor Gerhard Shroeder mediate the negotiations with Ukraine. President Donald Trump has tried since taking office Jan. 20, 2025 to broker a peace deal with Ukraine resisting the arrangement because it involved trading land-for-peace. Putin wants a fair quid-pro-quo to end the conflict.
Zelensky hasn’t controlled eastern Donbas since 2014 but refuses to ceded any territory to Russia to end the war, even though Putin controls some 80% of the region. French President Emmanuel Macron, German Chancellor Frriedrich Merz and U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer fear that ceding land to Putin would encourage him to seize more European territory in the future. Putin has said he wants no war with NATO and would not seek in the future to take more European Union land, especially in the Baltic States. Putin equated the Feb. 24, 2022 invasion to protecting Russia from NATO encroachment, something he insists was guaranteed by an agreement in 1991 to dismantle the Soviet Union. Putin sees the Ukraine War as holding the line against NATO encroachment on Russia. Former President Joe Biden ignored Putin’s calls to discuss new security arrangements.
Putin invaded Ukraine because he watched Biden supplying Ukraine lethal arms to eventually attack Russia. Putin asked Biden to discuss new security arrangement for Ukraine but was ignored for months before the Feb. 24, 2022 invasion. Trump came to office promising to end the Ukraine War, knowing he could make a deal with Putin. Trump was surprised to find out that Zelensky wanted no part of any deal that involved ceding territory won by Russia over for years of war to end the conflict. Zelensky ran to the EU looking for backing, once Trump announced that he would no longer fund proxy war with the Kremlin. Biden’s proxy war in Ukraine with the Kremlin ended decades of cooperative diplomatic relations, ending all arms control discussions and global cooperation. Trump vowed to reinstate U.S.-Russian relations, something that irked Zelensky.
Putin’s statement that he thinks the war was coming to an end strikes a positive tone, provided that Zelensky meets his halfwat, So far, Zelensky has refused to comkpromise on any land concessions with the Kremlin, willing to keep fighting until Russia withdraws its forces from the 1,000 kilometer battlefront. Putin wants a commitment from Western leaders that they will no longer encroach on Russian territory. Refusing to accept Ukraine’s NATO ambitions, Putin wants less, not more, Western influence near the Russian border, seeking rassurance from Ukraine and NATO that they will heed the reasons behind the invasion. Putin shows more willingness to compromise with Ukraine to end the war. Zelensky should take Putin up on using Gerhard Shroeder to mediate a peace deal, someone Putin trust to take Russia’s interests into mind in any peace deal.
Trump has done everything possible to end the war, trying to work with Zelensky and the EU to fashion a reasonable peace deal, something Putin would accept. But after battling Ukraine for fouir years, Putin isn’t about to abandon his overall aims to have more security from NATO encroachment. Chinese President Xi Jinping agreed that the U.S. breached its 1991 agreement at the end of the Soviet Union to respect Russian national security. European Commission President Antonio Costa said there might be an opening to negotiate with Putin an end to the Ukraine War. Putin said he preferred to used Schroeder as a mediator, since the EU has taken Ukraine’s side of not compromising on any land concessions. Putin wants a lasting peace deal that assures Russian national security. Zelensky and the EU have been adamant about not compromising on any land concessions.
Putin expressed a willingness to meet with Zelensky but only after negotiating teams worked out a comprehensive peace deal. Putin suggested Schroeder because he’s not part of the current EU that takes a biased position against Russia. Putin no longer sees the U.S. under Trump as an impediment to peace. Biden spent years funding proxy war with the Kremlin, giving Ukraine a virtual blank check to battle the Kremlin. Putin’s recent overture to end the war should be taken seriously by Zelensky and the EU. Whether it involves land-for peace concessions, Zelensky and the EU should work with Putin to end the war. Brussels doesn’t have unlimited funds for Ukraine into the foreseeable future. Ending the war should be the highest priority for Zelensky and the EU. Trump has tried to get Zelensky to make a realistic deal to end the bloody Ukraine War.
About the Author
John M. Curtis writes politically neutral commentary analyzing spin in national and global news. He’s editor of OnlineColumnist.com and author of Dodging The Bullet and Operation Charimsa.
