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

Russia’s ‌2022 invasion of Ukraine triggered the most serious crisis in relations between Russia and NATO in decades.

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

Putin ‌was speaking in ‌the Kremlin ⁠after Russia held its most scaled-back Victory Day parade in years.

The ​May 9 Victory Day holiday celebrates the Soviet Union’s victory over Nazi Germany in World War II and pays homage to the 27 million Soviet citizens who perished in the war.

Victory in Ukraine, though, has been elusive for Russia.

During four years of the deadliest European conflict since World War II, Russian forces have ⁠so far been unable to take the whole of ‌the Donbas ​region of eastern Ukraine where Ukrainian forces have been pushed back to a line of fortress ​cities.

The war has ‌killed hundreds of thousands of people, left swathes of Ukraine in ruins and drained Russia’s economy while Russia’s relations with European countries are worse than at any time since the depths of the Cold 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 Europeans, he said ‌the preferable figure for him was former German chancellor Gerhard Schroeder.

“For me personally, the former chancellor of the Federal Republic of Germany, Mr Schroeder, is preferable,” Putin said.

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 Russia in 2022 after the start of the war in Ukraine.

When asked about Ukrainian President ​Volodymyr Zelensky, Putin said a ⁠meeting was possible only once a lasting peace deal was agreed.

Ukrainian army spokesman Viktor Trehubov said earlier on Saturday that Russian and Ukrainian forces are making use of the current ceasefire to rotate troops and bring in reinforcements.

“The Russians are in fact taking a break today and are using it to bring up reinforcements, to rotate forces and to restore their offensive capabilities,” he said.

Trehubov added that similar activities were taking place on the Ukrainian side.

The spokesman said the situation along the front lines was relatively calm for the present.

While isolated battles were occurring, these were less intensive than usual, he said.

Trehubov speculated that the Russian military did not want to provoke incidents during Victory Day in Moscow.

with DPA