Kamal Ghorui
Russian President Vladimir Putin on Saturday said the Ukraine conflict was “coming to an end” and thanked the United States for facilitating talks, while stressing that the issue ultimately concerns only Russia and Ukraine.“We are grateful to US for facilitating talks, but it’s only matter for Russia and Ukraine,” Putin said. He also said, “I think the Ukraine conflict is coming to an end.”Putin further said Russia was still awaiting a response from Ukraine regarding a large prisoner-of-war exchange proposed by US President Donald Trump.“We are counting on the Ukrainian side to respond to the proposal made by the President of the United States. Unfortunately, we still have not received any proposals so far,” Putin told reporters.The remarks came amid renewed diplomatic efforts surrounding a temporary ceasefire announced earlier by Trump. The US president had proposed a three-day truce between Russia and Ukraine from May 9 to 11, coinciding with Russia’s Victory Day commemorations marking the Soviet Union’s role in World War II.In a post on Truth Social, Trump said the ceasefire would include a halt to “all kinetic activity” between the two countries.Meanwhile, Putin aide Yury Ushakov said Trump’s hopes for extending the ceasefire beyond the announced period were “unfounded”.“Yes, [Trump’s hope for an extension of the ceasefire] is unfounded,” Ushakov told reporters, according to Russian state news agency Tass. “But he hopes for it, why not? And he is working toward it.”He added that the continuation of any ceasefire depended on both Russia and Ukraine. “But this (a prolonged ceasefire) depends not only on him, but also on the other two parties,” Ushakov said.On the proposed prisoner exchange, Ushakov said Russian and Ukrainian agencies were currently working on lists of prisoners of war and that the process could move quickly if both sides reached an agreement.“As far as I know, the relevant agencies are supposed to be actively working on the lists today, and if they reach an agreement through their channels, the exchange will begin,” Ushakov said.He also claimed Russia had already provided prisoner lists to Ukraine before the ceasefire announcement but had not received a response.“On our part, the preliminary work [on the prisoner exchange] was underway even before the announcement of this ceasefire. And we had already provided lists to the Ukrainian side. We received no response from them. But now, perhaps due to the pressure from [US President Donald Trump], as I mentioned earlier, they will hurry up with preparing the list,” Ushakov said.“First, we need to compile this list, identify the actual individuals, and then reach an agreement to begin the exchanges. It all takes time, but I think it can be done fairly quickly. That’s what we agreed on, but we’ll see how it turns out in practice,” he added.
