Vladimir Putin wants end to war in Ukraine

Hundreds of gift packages prepared by residents or students of Sarajevo were delivered to the War Childhood Museum in the Bosnian capital, to be sent to Ukrainian children for the New Year. Pic/AFP

President Vladimir Putin said on Thursday that Russia wants an end to the war in Ukraine and that this would inevitably involve a diplomatic solution. Putin made the comments a day after U.S. President Joe Biden hosted Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in the White House and promised him continued and unwavering U.S. support.

"Our goal is not to spin the flywheel of military conflict, but, on the contrary, to end this war," Putin said. "We will strive for an end to this, and the sooner the better, of course." White House spokesman John Kirby said Putin has "shown absolutely zero indication that he's willing to negotiate" an end to the war, which began when Moscow sent troops into Ukraine on Feb. 24. "I have said many times: the intensification of hostilities leads to unjustified losses," Putin told reporters. "All armed conflicts end one way or another with some kind of negotiations on the diplomatic track," he added.

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"Sooner or later, any parties in a state of conflict sit down and make an agreement. The sooner this realization comes to those who oppose us, the better. We have never given up on this." Putin also played down the significance of the Patriot air defense system that Biden agreed to supply to Zelensky. He said it was "quite old" and did not work like Russia's S-300 system. "An antidote will always be found," he said, boasting Russia would "crack" the Patriots. "So those who do it are doing it in vain. It's just prolonging the conflict, that's all."

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