Diplomatic solution could end Ukraine war, says Vladimir Putin

Russian President says his goal is to bring the conflict to a close - the sooner the better

Russian President Vladimir Putin on Thursday. Sputnik via AP

Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Thursday that he wants an end to the war in Ukraine and that this would inevitably involve a diplomatic solution.

His comments come a day after US President Joe Biden hosted Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelenskyy in the White House and promised him continued and unwavering support.

"Our goal is not to spin the flywheel of military conflict but, on the contrary, to end this war," Mr Putin said.

"We will strive for an end to this, and the sooner the better, of course."

White House spokesman John Kirby said Mr Putin had "shown absolutely zero indication that he's willing to negotiate" an end to the war, which began when Moscow sent troops into Ukraine on February 24.

"Quite the contrary," Mr Kirby said. "Everything he is doing on the ground and in the air bespeaks a man who wants to continue to visit violence upon the Ukrainian people" and "escalate the war".

He repeated that Mr Biden was open to talks with Mr Putin, but only after the Russian leader "showed a seriousness about negotiations" and after consultations with Ukraine and US allies.

Putin's inner circle – in pictures

Head of Russia's SVR intelligence service Sergei Naryshkin has seen his status eroded by the strong resistance encountered in Ukraine, which he did not foresee. EPA

Head of Russia's Roscosmos space agency Dmitry Rogozin has threatened to abandon a Nasa astronaut on the International Space Station. AFP

Russian Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu was one of the architects of Moscow's intervention in Syria. AFP

Russian President Vladimir Putin meets with Russia's oil giant Rosneft chief Igor Sechin. He has been described as Mr Putin's right-hand man. AFP

Secretary of Russia's Security Council Nikolai Patrushev attends a meeting in Moscow. He is said to have known Mr Putin for 50 years. AFP

Sergei Ivanov, Russian special representative on questions of ecology and transport, is a close friend of Mr Putin. AFP

Federal Security Service director Alexander Bortnikov is responsible for a huge network of agents in Russia. AFP

At 58, president of the Duma Lower House of Parliament Vyacheslav Volodin is one of the younger members of the inner circle. He has been touted as a possible successor to Mr Putin. AFP

Russia has persistently said it is open to negotiations, but Ukraine and its allies suspect a ploy to buy time afterRussian defeats and retreats that have swung the momentum of the 10-month war in favour of Kyiv.

"I have said many times: the intensification of hostilities leads to unjustified losses," Mr Putin said.

"All armed conflicts end one way or another, with some kind of negotiations on the diplomatic track.

"Sooner or later, any parties in a state of conflict sit down and make an agreement. The sooner this realisation comes to those who oppose us, the better. We have never given up on this."

Russia says it is Ukraine that is refusing to talk. Kyiv says Russia must first halt its attacks and give up all of the territory it has seized.

Ukraine latest — in pictures

A building burned from a strike as Russia's attack on Ukraine continues, in Bakhmut. Reuters

Antonina, a refugee from Bakhmut in Donetsk region, with dogs she rescued in Izyum, Kharkiv. AFP

A resident gives her neighbours hot food brought by volunteers in Izyum. AFP

A Ukrainian soldier salutes as he works to build a bunker with sand in Bakhmut. Reuters

Volodymyr Kovalov, 77, carries tree branches attached to his bike as he collects wood for heating and cooking in Kherson region. AFP

A local resident takes pictures of a destroyed monastery in Dolyna, eastern Ukraine. AFP

A decoy dummy made with the clothes of a Russian soldier at the entrance of a destroyed cinema in Kamyanka, eastern Ukraine. AFP

Destroyed houses in the city of Kamyanka. AFP

Caesar, 50, a Russian who joined the Freedom of Russia Legion to fight on the side of Ukraine, stands in front of a destroyed monastery in Dolyna. AFP

An employee stands next to a shelter at a stainless pipes plant in Nikopol, Dnipropetrovsk region. AFP

Ivan and Iryna Kalinin before the start of the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Iryna, who was pregnant, was killed in a Russian air strike on Mariupol's maternity hospital. Ivan returned to the occupied city to rebury his wife and baby. AP

Natalia, 67, sits inside her house that was damaged in a Russian military strike, in Kramatorsk, Ukraine. Reuters

Ukrainian soldiers ride in a military vehicle in Bakhmut, a city in the Donetsk enclave. AP

Smoke billows from a building on fire after a Russian attack in Bakhmut. AP

Sasha and her grandfather stand outside their home in Bakhmut. AP

Ukrainian soldiers set up a barricade in Bakhmut. AP

Nastya carries her cat as her mother Anna says goodbye to neighbours with whom they lived for months in a basement during Russian attacks in Soledar, a city in the Donetsk enclave of Ukraine. AP

Anna and Nastya in the basement during a Russian attack nearby. AP

A Ukrainian soldier is wheeled on a stretcher at a hospital in the Donetsk enclave. AP

A woman looks a building damaged by Russian shelling in Kherson. AFP

Oleksandra Koshkina, 85, sits in a car as she returns to her village of Torske, in the Donetsk enclave. Reuters

A resident of Bakhmut walks along an empty street. Reuters

A street market in Bakhmut. Reuters

A Ukrainian soldier poses for a picture in the Donetsk enclave. Reuters

Officials tend to a patient on a plane carrying Ukrainian Jewish refugees as they wait to disembark at Israel's Ben Gurion Airport near Tel Aviv. AFP

Mr Putin also played down the significance of the Patriot air-defence system that Mr Biden agreed to supply to Mr Zelenskyy, saying Russia would find a way to counter it.

He said it was "quite old" and did not work like Russia's S-300 system.

"An antidote will always be found," Mr Putin said, adding that Russia would "crack" the Patriots.

"So those who do it are doing it in vain. It's just prolonging the conflict, that's all."

Mr Putin also said a price cap imposed on Russian oil by western countries, designed to limit its ability to fund the war, would not damage the Russian economy.

He said he would sign a decree early next week to set out Russia's response.

Putin sounds out Russian military chiefs on progress of Ukraine war - video