Russian President Putin says he thinks Ukraine conflict is coming to an end

Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Saturday that he ⁠thought the ⁠Ukraine conflict was coming to an end.

Russia‘s 2022 invasion of Ukraine triggered the most ⁠serious crisis in relations between Russia and the West since the 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis, when many people feared the world was on the brink of nuclear war.

“I think that the matter ⁠is ⁠coming to an end,” Putin told reporters of the Ukraine war.

The Financial Times reported on Thursday that European Union leaders were preparing for potential talks. Asked if he was ⁠willing to engage in talks with the Europeans, he said the preferable figure for him was former Germany’s Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder.

The Kremlin said last week ⁠that ‌it ‌was for European governments to ⁠make the first ‌move, as they were the ones who severed ⁠contact with Moscow ⁠in 2022 after the start ⁠of the war in Ukraine.