MOSCOW (Dispatches) - Russia is confident of victory in the Ukraine conflict and believes victory is “very near”, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said Tuesday.
“We are sure that the victory is very near....Our combat operations are proceeding very successfully,” Peskov told a press briefing, noting that Russia hopes a path toward a peaceful settlement of the Ukraine conflict will be found sooner or later.
However, he said the Ukrainian authorities have demonstrated little flexibility, and that he does not believe Ukraine genuinely wants to end the war. “This war could have ended long ago.”
Peskov noted that U.S. representatives have shuttled between Moscow and Kiev in recent days, devoting substantial time and effort to relaying the positions of the two sides. Russia expects progress on this front and hopes that trilateral talks involving Russia, Ukraine and the United States will resume.
“Serious work is underway. We hope certain shifts will emerge in this regard,” the Kremlin spokesperson added.
On Tuesday, Russian President Vladimir Putin and his U.S. counterpart, Donald Trump, have held a “positive” phone call focused on efforts to resolve the Ukraine conflict, Kremlin aide Yury Ushakov said.
The call followed a new round of shuttle diplomacy by Trump’s envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, who met Putin in Moscow for more than three hours on Saturday before traveling to Kyiv for talks with Vladimir Zelensky the following day.
Speaking to reporters, Ushakov said Putin and Trump had both assessed the envoys’ visits positively and agreed that work through this and other diplomatic channels would “continue.”
Ushakov described the hour-long conversation as positive, saying Putin praised U.S. mediation efforts and Trump personally. Trump, he added, expressed hope for a breakthrough in resolving the conflict during his presidency.
Trump told Putin that ending the Ukraine conflict would open the way to fully restoring Russia-U.S. relations and that renewed trade ties would bring both countries “enormous benefits,” Ushakov said. Putin welcomed the prospect of “a constructive partnership between two great powers,” he added.
Putin also said that Moscow has no hostile intentions toward European countries, according to Ushakov. Summarizing the president’s remarks, the aide added: “The myths being spread about a Russian threat serve as a pretext for Europeans to increase their support for Ukraine and their own military spending.”
Putin also briefed Trump on the fighting, including Moscow’s prospects for further battlefield advances and achieving its military objectives, Ushakov said.