JÜRI KOTŠINEV: Putin's Talk of Ending the War – Who is He Really Fighting?

Columnist Jüri Kotšinev analyses Putin's 9 May statement, in which the Russian president claimed the war is coming to an end. The European Union has launched discussions on how to respond to such a statement.

On 9 May, Vladimir Putin told journalists that the war is ending. This remark, delivered almost in passing, provoked a far more serious reaction in Europe's capitals than the Kremlin apparently expected.

The European Union has entered into discussions about how to interpret Putin's signal. Is this a diplomatic attempt to prepare the ground, a bid to influence Western support for Ukraine, or merely internal communication aimed at Russia's own audience?

Columnist Jüri Kotšinev believes that Putin has essentially started a race against time. The Russian economy is suffering under sanctions, the situation on the front lines is difficult, and international pressure is mounting. Talk of approaching peace may be an attempt to reach the negotiating table on terms favourable to Moscow – before the military situation deteriorates further.

The European Union now faces a difficult choice: whether to take Putin's remarks as a genuine desire for peace that requires reciprocal gestures, or to treat them as a tactical manoeuvre that calls for a stronger, not weaker, response of support for Ukraine. In Kotšinev's assessment, history has shown that Kremlin peace talk is rarely what it first appears to be.

What happens next depends largely on whether Western allies can remain united. Every rift between EU and NATO members is a gift to Putin – and that is precisely what he is hoping for.