Peaceful gravity: Putin named the conditions for a quick end to the conflict in Ukraine

Russia is ready to conclude a peace agreement with Ukraine based on the agreements reached in Anchorage — all that remains is to convince Kiev, Vladimir Putin said on June 4 at a meeting with the heads of the world's leading news agencies at SPIEF 2026. Moscow is also ready for dialogue with the European Union and is not going to fight with NATO. At the same time, the president called the current rhetoric against Russia a deliberate provocation. And there are those who have been choosing the path of mutually beneficial cooperation for decades. China and India remain Russia's key partners. Who Putin was joking about and whether the president will run in 2030 is in the Izvestia article.

How is Russia going to resolve the Ukrainian issue

On the second day of the SPIEF, Vladimir Putin met with representatives of world news agencies. It was held at the Konstantinovsky Palace in Strelna and became an anniversary event — the president holds it annually for the tenth time. Traditionally, journalists have asked a variety of questions, but the most pressing topic was expected to be the Ukrainian crisis.

In response to an American correspondent, the country's leader stressed that the Russian Armed Forces are advancing daily along the entire front line to achieve all their goals. Today, the military has completely taken control of the territory of the Luhansk People's Republic and is preparing for the complete capture of Donbass. On the contrary, the Armed Forces of Ukraine lose 20,000 people by desertion every month, which is why they are sorely short of personnel. The number of the Ukrainian army has recently decreased by 100,000 people, and monthly losses amount to 40,000, Putin said. Since the beginning of the year, the number of deserters from the Armed Forces of Ukraine is about 60 thousand people, he added.

At the same time, if Kiev agrees to compromise, the conflict can be ended peacefully. It is reasonable to conclude a deal based on the agreements that were reached with US President Donald Trump in Alaska in August 2025.

"Russia has agreed to compromises on Ukraine, it remains to convince Kiev of this," Putin said.

There are chances to reach a new round of the peace process this year, Vladimir Shapovalov, deputy director of the Institute of History and Politics at Moscow State University, told Izvestia.

"Moreover, the advance of the Russian army, I think, will force our opponents to sit down at the negotiating table," he explained.

If it is possible to come close to a peace treaty, it can be signed by both the representative of the Verkhovna Rada and Vladimir Zelensky, whose presidential term has officially ended — it all depends on the documents, the Russian leader explained.

However, if a deal cannot be concluded, the Russian Armed Forces are ready to end the conflict militarily, using heavy weapons. At the same time, the Russian president did not rule out the full-scale use of the Oreshnik missile system in the future.

The role of the EU in relations between Russia and Ukraine

Recently, Europe has repeatedly taken the initiative to participate in the negotiations between Moscow and Kiev. Russia has not refused to engage in dialogue with the EU, Putin said. At the same time, if Brussels wants to choose negotiators from the association, then politicians who can be trusted should participate in meetings. The president suggested discussing the candidacy of a negotiator from Europe through the Ministry of Foreign Affairs or special services.

Today, the contacts of such services continue. The prospects for a dialogue between Russia and the EU now depend on whether the current European leaders are ready to take into account at least some of Russia's interests in those vital areas that the Russian president has spoken about many times. So far, only individual leaders of European countries and opposition political forces have expressed a desire to do this, European political scientist Egor Belyachkov noted in an interview with Izvestia.

"In this situation, contacts through the special services help not to lose the last connecting threads of cooperation and in the future, if European countries wish, try to revive it," the expert emphasized.

So far, Brussels cannot be considered a neutral party, as it openly declares its desire to defeat Russia. The Kremlin also does not idealize the United States, which, although it provides mediation services in negotiations, continues to supply weapons to Ukraine, Dmitry Peskov said, answering a question from Izvestia correspondent Viktor Sineok.

The President recalled that Russia is not against the European association of Kiev, which is what Brussels wants, but has a negative attitude towards the transformation of the European Union into a military bloc. As you know, there is already a similar organization in the West in the person of NATO. Foreign media have repeatedly written about the Russian threat to the North Atlantic Alliance, but such statements are a deliberate provocation, far from the truth.

The EU's relations with Russia deteriorated after the start of the CBO, when many sanctions were imposed against Russia, and the Union countries refused to purchase our energy resources at favorable prices. Several Nord Stream pipelines were even blown up, but Moscow is ready to resume pumping gas through the remaining pipes. To do this, the German government must turn to Russia and resolve the issue of American sanctions, which are imposed on the last thread of the "flows," Putin said.

What Putin said about cooperation with China and India

It is symbolic that Fu Hua, president of Xinhua, China's key news agency, sits at the table to the left of the president. And it would seem that the awkward moment at the very beginning of the meeting only emphasized the really close relations between Russia and China. The guest forgot to turn on the microphone, and the simultaneous interpreter, not hearing him, could not at first convey the guest's words. Vladimir Putin jokingly noted the difficulties with understanding Chinese without translation. However, in reality, it has long been clear to everyone: the Russian Federation and China sometimes understand each other without words. The President emphasized without exaggeration the trusting relationship with President Xi Jinping and the natural nature of the partnership between the two countries.

— In recent years, especially after the beginning of the events that are still taking place in the Ukrainian direction, it is increasingly said that Russia has made a turn towards Asia, it has changed its policy. Russia has not changed anything and has not made any U—turns," the head of the Russian Federation emphasized.

At least the basic agreement with China on good—neighborliness, friendship and cooperation was signed back in 2001. And since then, the partnership has only grown stronger. It would seem that relations between Russia and China are already at the highest level, but even here Vladimir Putin made a small announcement: the countries will "soon be pleased" with new agreements in the energy sector, and they are also thinking about new developments in military-technical cooperation. However, this is not related to the current conflicts — Moscow and Beijing are not friends against anyone, but in their own interests.

In many ways, this approach allows Russia to develop relations with the leading world powers, even in a sense competing with each other, without creating any military blocs. That's how the "Russia, India, China" RICK format was born. And it was here, in St. Petersburg, that Vladimir Putin spoke.

— Russia has its own relations with both China and India. And it doesn't hurt anyone. They had been developing for decades, and everything was developing naturally. And Russia's relations with India do not interfere with China, and Russia's relations with China do not interfere with India. And the combination of the three countries helps everyone," the president noted.

Now it is helping to shape a multipolar world, but in the form of BRICS, where countries, with each other's support, protect and develop their own sovereignty. Thus, the United States has failed to put pressure on India, including on cooperation with Russia. "It seems to me that everyone has long understood that putting pressure on, for example, the Prime Minister [Narendra] Modi, who heads a state with 1.5 billion people, is useless," the head of state stressed.

Russia and India are successfully developing both trade and military-technical cooperation — the same Brahmos missiles of joint production have proved their effectiveness in the recent escalation between India and Pakistan. Indian journalist Joshi Vijay was particularly concerned about this aspect. Russia does have trusting relations with China, its geopolitical rival, and Pakistan, its historical enemy, but this can hardly affect the strong partnership between Moscow and New Delhi. And the Russian Federation does not consider it right to interfere in the delicate and multifaceted relations between India and Pakistan, however, it is certainly in contact with all its partners.

Russia, as one of the leading countries, could play a constructive role in the conflict in the Middle East. Mark Bendika, the Chief International Affairs Editor of the Reuters World News Service, was particularly interested in this topic. The Russian Federation was indeed involved in defusing the long-running conflict between the United States and Iran when it exported enriched uranium in 2015, thanks to which the JCPOA could eventually function. The proposal to export uranium is back in force, and both sides have been informed about it, Putin said.

Anyway, the closure of the Strait of Hormuz affects the entire global economy, exacerbating the energy crisis. This was especially emphasized by Shohrat Aref, managing editor of the Egyptian MENA agency. And Moscow understands this perfectly well. As the president stated, "if anything depends on Russia, we are always ready to lend a shoulder."

Russia's relations with the CIS countries and Cuba

Russia would like the standards of the EU and the EAEU to coincide in the historical perspective, then a huge economic space would appear, the president noted. However, now, according to him, it is impossible. And in this regard, a problem arises because of Armenia, which is guided by the standards of Brussels. Putin recalled that it was at the request of Yerevan that Russia once insisted on the republic's accession to the EAEU. Now Armenia is oriented towards the West.

There is nothing wrong with this, because it is the right of every country, the Russian leader stressed. Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan previously announced his intention to hold a referendum on joining the EU. Russia has only one request — to hold it as soon as possible, and Moscow will maintain good relations with Yerevan, no matter which way it chooses, Putin is confident.

The interaction between the Russian Federation and Kazakhstan is developing in an upward trend. Moscow and Astana will continue to jointly mine uranium. In addition, the parties are finalizing the Balkhash NPP construction project, which is planned to be built by Rosatom in the republic.

Azerbaijan is another country with which Russia is conducting an energy dialogue. Putin announced a meeting with President of the Republic Ilham Aliyev, where this topic will also be raised. Earlier, the countries signed an agreement on strategic cooperation. In turn, Aliev puts a lot of effort into filling this agreement with concrete content. The trade turnover of the two countries is growing, and the accumulated Russian investments in Azerbaijan amount to over 10 billion.

Earlier, Aliev helped Russia with sending humanitarian aid to Iran, for which the Russian Federation is grateful to him. Baku has worked extremely effectively in this area, Putin added.

The development of the SCO was also discussed at the meeting. Kyrgyzstan will be the organizer of the summit in 2026. The Russian Federation will be guided by its proposals. Initially, the SCO was a tool for resolving border issues between China and the post-Soviet states bordering it. However, there are already 27 countries in the organization. And Central Asia, with its territory, resources, population growth and economic potential, is attracting more and more attention, Putin concluded.

Meanwhile, Cuba has been one of Russia's friendly countries for decades. According to the President, the Russian Federation had a dialogue with the United States on the issue of the republic. Washington is aware of the friendly relations between Moscow and Havana. Putin recalled that Russia had sent a tanker with fuel to Cuba to support it during the energy crisis. Contacts are continuing with the Caribbean Republic, Putin stressed.

Economic development of the Russian Federation

Meanwhile, Vladimir Putin said it was too early to talk about the prospects of his participation in the next elections, although the Constitution allows it.

In the conditions of its jurisdiction, the Russian Federation is on the right track and feels confident. The Russian authorities deliberately went to cool down the economy so that there would be no hyperinflation of 60-70%.

— As Mark Twain said, "The rumors about my death are greatly exaggerated."..> So it is now. They predicted defeat on the battlefield, and I remember that the former president of the United States [Joe Biden] said that the Russian economy was in tatters. But don't wishful thinking," Putin said.

Moreover, industrial production and real incomes of the Russian population are growing. The latter increased by 28%, while real wages increased by a quarter. Russia also exceeded the target of reducing poverty to 6.7% ahead of schedule. The main problem of macroeconomics remains growth, but the Central Bank is taking all necessary measures.