Ukraine conflict could end in weeks – Putin

Ukraine is entirely dependent on its Western sponsors and the conflict could end within two months if Kiev runs out of money and ammunition, Russian President Vladimir Putin has said.

Speaking to reporter Pavel Zarubin on Tuesday, Putin was asked about the possibility of a negotiated end to the Russia-Ukraine conflict.

“They can’t exist without their Western sponsors. They won’t last a month if the money and ammunition run out,” Putin told Zarubin.

“Everything can be over in a month and a half to two months. Ukraine practically has no sovereignty, in that sense,” the Russian president added.

According to Putin, if Kiev’s western backers truly want peace, “this is very easy to do,” adding that Moscow has already spelled out its terms very clearly.

Kiev can signal its willingness to talk by canceling the decree banning all negotiations with Russia, Putin said. He explained that without such a step, any proposed negotiations would be as illegitimate as Vladimir Zelensky, whose presidential mandate expired last spring.

The US and its allies have channeled more than $200 billion in aid to Kiev, ranging from weapons, equipment, and ammunition, to cash payments for the salaries of government employees and pensions. The Kremlin has pointed to this support as making the West “de facto a party to the conflict,” which both Washington and Brussels have officially denied.