It was an unusual statement to make at a time of acute pressure.
Russian President Vladimir Putin used the weekend’s hallowed May 9 Victory Day parades, commemorating the Soviet Union’s defeat of Nazi Germany, to utter something remarkable: that he believed the matter of the Ukrainian conflict “was coming to an end.” This comment, Putin’s first real indication his war of choice might be nudging towards a conclusion, came after a lengthy lament about the failed negotiations at the start of the 2022 invasion, and was extraordinarily brief.
Yet this is not a man who speaks casually, or erratically. This is not his possible audience of one: US President Donald Trump. Putin’s rare departure from his…