Vladimir Putin, in rare remarks, said Russia wants an end to its war in Ukraine “the sooner the better” through an inevitable “diplomatic solution”.
This was the first time since Russia’s 10-month-long invasion of Ukraine that the president publicly used the term “war” to describe what he previously called a “special military operation”.
His remarks on Thursday come a day after Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky met his American counterpart Joe Biden in Washington, where he promised continued and unwavering support.
“Our goal is not to spin the flywheel of military conflict, but, on the contrary, to end this war,” Mr Putin said. “We will strive for an end to this, and the sooner the better, of course.”
Moscow has routinely said it is open to negotiations. However, it claims that it is Ukraine that has been refusing to talk. Kyiv has asked Moscow to stop its attacks and give up all territory it has seized.
“I have said many times: the intensification of hostilities leads to unjustified losses,” Mr Putin told reporters.
“All armed conflicts end one way or another with some kind of negotiations on the diplomatic track,” he continued.
“Sooner or later, any parties in a state of conflict sit down and make an agreement. The sooner this realisation comes to those who oppose us, the better. We have never given up on this.”
Earlier on Wednesday, the Russian president described the fighting in Ukraine as a “tragedy” and vowed to pursue his campaign there until its goals are reached. Speaking at a meeting Mr Putin held with top military brass, defence minister Sergei Shoigu said the 1.5 million-member military should include 695,000 volunteer contract soldiers.
Meanwhile, US secretary of state Antony Blinken said Russia has shown no real interest in ending the war even as Mr Putin called for a quick resolution.
“Fundamentally right now, Russia has shown no interest in meaningful diplomacy, in meaningfully engaging, to bring this war to an end,” Mr Blinken told a news conference following a meeting with foreign ministers of the Group of Seven nations.
He said Russia could immediately end the war by withdrawing troops, but “in the absence of that, we have to see some meaningful evidence that Russia is prepared to actually negotiate a just and durable peace”.
“By just — one that doesn’t simply ratify another country seizing by force the territory of another,” he added.
