Putin Says Russia Is Winning in Ukraine and Rules Out Talks With ‘Terrorists’

Vladimir Putin said he had no doubt Ukraine’s forces would eventually collapse, offering one of his most detailed and confident assessments of the war in weeks.

Speaking after a summit in Kyrgyzstan, the Russian president said Moscow’s forces were advancing faster and had captured 270 square kilometers of Donetsk in August. He also claimed that two groups of Ukrainian troops, one numbering between 4,500 and 4,800 soldiers and another reaching 2,000, had been surrounded. Reuters could not independently verify those claims.

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I have no doubt the enemy will crumble.

Putin said Russian troops were continuing toward Sloviansk and Kramatorsk and preparing “massive strikes” against Ukraine’s energy infrastructure. He acknowledged that Ukrainian drone attacks had caused real damage inside Russia, including at oil refineries, and described drones as a particular challenge. He dismissed rumors that Russia would need another mobilization as “utter nonsense.”

Putin portrayed Ukraine’s leadership as terrorists and said Moscow could not negotiate with them. He called Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s warning that Ukrainian drones could effectively close Russian airspace “state terrorism,” adding that Russia would find a way to respond if such an attack occurred.

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If someone makes, or can make, a tangible contribution to this process, we are all in favor.

At the same time, Putin said Russia was willing to discuss an agreement that would end the war rather than merely freeze it. He also repeated Moscow’s readiness to speak with U.S. President Donald Trump’s envoys. “If someone makes, or can make, a tangible contribution to this process, we are all in favor,” Putin said. He added that Russia wanted to avoid negotiations that “spin their wheels pointlessly,” but was not opposed to anyone bringing something positive to talks that he said were currently somewhat frozen.

The comments came four and a half years into the war, with Russia controlling about a fifth of Ukraine. Peace talks mediated by the United States broke off in February after the United States and Israel went to war with Iran. Opinion polls indicate growing fatigue with the war in Russia, while influential voices have warned about pressure on the economy.

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The only thing we would want to avoid is the process spinning its wheels pointlessly.