Putin says war in Ukraine could end soon amid brief ceasefire
OAN Staff Katherine Mosack
2:05 PM – Saturday, May 9, 2026
Russian President Vladimir Putin said that Russia’s years-long war with Ukraine may finally be coming to an end as the two countries begin a short ceasefire period.
“I think that the matter is coming to an end,” Putin told reporters of the Ukraine war on Saturday.
Russia launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2024, meaning the conflict has lasted longer than four years.
President Donald Trump has been hoping to end the war since he re-entered office in January 2025 and has claimed repeatedly that it never would have begun had he been president at the time. He announced on Friday that a temporary ceasefire had been reached in time for Russia to celebrate its annual Victory Day holiday, marking the Soviet Union’s victory over Nazi Germany in World War II.
“I am pleased to announce that there will be a THREE DAY CEASEFIRE (May 9th, 10th and 11th) in the War between Russia and Ukraine,” he said on Truth Social. “The celebration in Russia is for Victory Day but, likewise, in Ukraine, because they were also a big part and factor of World War II.”
Though the ceasefire is brief, Trump expressed optimism for the two neighboring countries.
“Hopefully, it is the beginning of the end for a very long, deadly, and hard-fought War,” he wrote. “Talks are continuing on ending this Major Conflict, the biggest since World War II, and we are getting closer and closer every day.”
Though wartime death tolls are difficult to estimate, the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) reported in late February that Russian forces have suffered nearly 1.2 million casualties, meaning killed, wounded and missing, between the beginning of the war and December 2025. To put this number into perspective, the organization said that this number of casualties and fatalities is higher than any other major power has suffered in any war since World War II. It also estimated that Ukraine suffered between 500,000 and 600,000 casualties, including between 100,000 and 140,000 fatalities in the same time frame.
“Total combined Russian and Ukrainian casualties could reach 2 million by the spring of 2026 at current rates of attrition,” the CSIS stated.
Putin did not elaborate on his comment on Saturday, though the Kremlin said last week that it expected European governments to make the first move, as they were responsible for severing contact after the invasion of Ukraine.
The Russian president’s remark came after an extremely scaled-back Victory Day parade, according to The New York Times, suggesting that even Moscow is affected by the lengthy conflict.
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