THE MIND OF THE PEOPLE – Russian President Vladimir Putin expressed confidence that his country’s war with Ukraine is coming to an end. This was conveyed to journalists at the Kremlin on Saturday (9/5/2026).
He said he was willing to negotiate new security arrangements for Europe, and identified former German Chancellor Gerhard Schröder as his preferred negotiating partner. “For me personally, the former Chancellor of the Federal Republic of Germany, Mr. Schröder, is more to my liking,” he said, citing The Guardian.
But this choice has raised doubts in Ukraine and Europe, given Schröder’s background as a close friend of Putin and his ties to Russian businesses and projects, including the Nord Stream gas pipeline.
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In 2022, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy called Schröder “disgusting” after the former chancellor met Putin and spoke out in defense of the Russian ruler.
Putin also said he would be willing to meet Zelenskyy, but only in a third country and after all conditions for a potential peace deal have been worked out. “This should be the end point, not the negotiation itself,” he said.
In the same statement, Putin criticized Western support for Kyiv which he claimed had allowed Ukraine to survive. “They spent months waiting for Russia to suffer a crushing defeat, for its statehood to collapse. It didn’t work. And then they got stuck in that pattern and now can’t get out of it,” he said.
The 81st Victory Day parade in Moscow’s Red Square on Saturday claimed to be the simplest in nearly two decades. For the first time in nearly 20 years, the parade took place without displays of tanks, missiles and other military equipment.
Only fighter planes are featured in the airborne attraction. Russia argued that the reduction in the scale of the parade was carried out for security reasons because it was worried that Ukraine would target Red Square with drones.
Only the leaders of Belarus, Malaysia, Laos, Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan were recorded as attending, a far cry from last year when Chinese President Xi Jinping was the guest of honor.
Putin’s optimistic statement came amid a three-day US-mediated ceasefire that Trump announced on Friday (8/5/2026). He said the ceasefire would take effect on May 9-11, including the cessation of all military activities and the exchange of 1,000 prisoners from each side. “Hopefully this is the beginning of the end of a very long, deadly and fierce war,” he said.
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Meanwhile, Zelenskyy confirmed the ceasefire via the X platform, saying the agreement was reached through contacts with the US administration.
However, both parties accused each other of violating the ceasefire. Ahead of the start of the ceasefire, 27 Ukrainian civilians were claimed to have been killed in Russian attacks.
Moscow previously threatened to launch a major missile attack on central Kyiv if Ukraine disrupted Victory Day celebrations, and warned civilians and foreign diplomatic staff to leave the city.
The Kremlin said it had no plans to extend the ceasefire beyond three days. Their forces currently claim to control nearly a fifth of Kyiv’s territory, but progress has slowed this year and has not been able to take the entire Donbas region in eastern Ukraine.
The war, which is now entering its fifth year, is claimed to have killed hundreds of thousands of people, destroyed large parts of Ukraine and drained Russia’s economy.***
