Putin Says Russia Wants To End Ukraine War

Moscow: Russia has accused Ukraine and the United States of turning a deaf ear to its concerns and alleged that the US was using Ukraine as a battleground to weaken Russia.

The charges came as President Vladimir Putin insisted Russia was aiming for a speedy end to the fighting.

“Our goal is… to end this conflict. We are striving for this”, he told reporters. “We will seek to make sure that it all ends, and the sooner, the better”.

“All conflicts end, some way or another, with talks… The faster our adversaries in Kyiv understand that, the better it will be,” Putin said.

Meanwhile, the Russian military chief has said Russian forces are now concentrated on wresting control of the eastern Donetsk region where the Bakhmut has become an epicentre of fighting.

Officials in Moscow have repeatedly said in recent months that they have not ruled out talks with Ukraine. They accused the closure of diplomatic channels on President Zelensky, who has said he will not negotiate while Putin is in power.

The Ukrainian leader has just returned from a historic trip to Washington, where he told Congress his country was “alive and kicking” and supporting it was an investment in global security.

He enjoyed a hero’s welcome on the lightning trip on Wednesday, in which US President Joe Biden committed nearly $1.8 billion in military supplies including, for the first time, the Patriot missile defence system.

Putin warned this could further draw out the conflict, saying: “Those who are confronting us say this is a defensive weapon… There will always be an antidote.”

“The people who are doing this are doing it in vain. It’s just prolonging the conflict, that’s all,” he told reporters.