Russian President Vladimir Putin has said that he thought the Ukraine war was coming to an end.
"I think that the matter is coming to an end," Putin told reporters on Saturday of the Ukraine war.
He also said he is ready to meet his Ukrainian counterpart, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, but only to finalise a peace agreement.
"It is possible to meet in a third country, but only if final agreements have been reached on a peace treaty," Putin said, arguing that such an agreement must be "designed for a long-term historical perspective."
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 the Europeans, he said the preferable figure for him was former Germany's Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder.
'Justified response'
Putin added that Russia proposed a 500-for-500 prisoner swap to Ukraine prior to US President Donald Trump's initiative for a ceasefire and 1,000-for-1,000 prisoner exchange.
He described Trump's initiative as a "justified proposal," but also said the Russian side has yet to receive any proposals for an exchange.
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 Moscow in 2022 after the start of the war in Ukraine.
The war in Ukraine triggered the most serious crisis in relations between Russia and the West since the 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis, when many people feared the world was on the brink of nuclear war.
