Russian President Vladimir Putin said he believed the war in Ukraine was “coming to an end”, signalling what appeared to be one of the Kremlin’s clearest indications yet that Moscow may be seeking a negotiated settlement after more than four years of fighting.

“I think the (war in Ukraine) is coming to an end,” Putin told journalists at a Kremlin press conference following Victory Day commemorations in Moscow on May 9. “I believe that things are moving toward a conclusion, though it remains a serious matter.”

The remarks came as the Kremlin renewed calls for direct talks with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy. Putin said he would be willing to meet Zelenskiy in a third country, departing from his longstanding position that negotiations should take place in Moscow.

“Whoever wishes to meet is welcome to come,” Putin said, according to Meduza on May 9. “A meeting could also take place in a third country, but this would require reaching definitive agreements beforehand.”

The Gulf states and Turkey have offered themselves as possible venues. With the Trump administration withdrawing from the negotiating efforts, distracted by its war in the Gulf, Zelenskiy has reached out to Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in the last weeks as a possible replacement in the mediation efforts.

Kremlin foreign policy adviser Yuri Ushakov earlier repeated Russia’s standing invitation for Zelenskiy to visit Moscow. Zelenskiy has previously said he is prepared to meet Putin in any city not directly involved in the conflict.

Putin also said a planned exchange of 1,000 prisoners from each side remained possible under a three-day ceasefire announced by Moscow, although he claimed Kyiv had yet to submit formal proposals.

The Russian president argued that western governments had expected Russia’s rapid defeat after launching large-scale military support for Ukraine following Moscow’s 2022 invasion.

“First of all, they were expecting a crushing defeat for Russia — as we know full well — and the collapse of its statehood within a matter of months,” Putin said. “But then they got stuck in this rut, and now they simply cannot find a way out of it.”

He added that the US appeared increasingly interested in ending the conflict. “They clearly have no need for this conflict; they have many other priority tasks,” Putin said.

Simon Saradzhyan, a longtime Russia observer, said Putin’s comments represented “the strongest signal he has sent so far that he wants to end the war soon”.

Putin is under increasing pressure due to a flagging economy and rising popular dissent to new restrictions on internet freedoms to bring the war to an end.

Separately, a political window to do a deal with the Trump administration is closing. Putin and Trump get on well personally, and as IntelliNews has reported, Trump is motivated as he wants to do business with Russia. Reportedly there is a so called “Dmitriev package” of business deals worth $12 trillion on the table – six times more than the entire value of the Russian economy – that would the US access to everything from oil and gas, through critical minerals and on to Russia very large consumer market that Trump is interested in to counter China’s monopoly over many of the world’s strategically important commodities. However, with the Republicans likely to lose control of both the House and the Senate in the November mid-terms, Putin is motivated to close a deal with Trump soon, while he has complete control of the US political process.