The Kremlin believes that the Russian-Ukrainian war is gradually approaching its end. However, the Russian leadership does not name any specific timelines for the cessation of hostilities.
This was stated on October 21 by Russian presidential aide Yuri Ushakov in a comment to the Vesti information service after Vladimir Putin's talks with US President's special envoy Steve Witkoff.
Responding to a journalist's question about the prospects for ending the war, Ushakov stated:
"I don't know how close we are getting, but things are moving toward that."
At the same time, Putin's aide did not specify what this assessment is based on, and did not name possible timelines for concluding a peace agreement.
The statement came after a meeting between Putin and Witkoff held on October 21 in St. Petersburg, which lasted about three hours. The central topic of the negotiations was Russia's war against Ukraine and the possible resumption of trilateral consultations.
Earlier, Ushakov reported that Moscow expressed its principled readiness to return to negotiations with the participation of representatives of Ukraine and the United States in the second ten days of November.
As previously reported by Kurs.com.ua, Putin told Witkoff about his readiness to resume the trilateral negotiation process. However, no compromise on territorial issues, security guarantees for Ukraine, or a ceasefire had been announced.
Thus, Ushakov's words remain an assessment by the Russian side for the time being. No confirmed agreements that would allow one to speak of an imminent end to the war had been presented at the time of the statement.
