Putin says Russia has the ‘strength and means’ to finish war in Ukraine

Russian President Vladimir Putin said his country has the “strength and means” to finish the war in Ukraine, as Moscow and Kyiv pushed for competing ceasefire proposals.

Putin has proposed a three-day truce starting Thursday to mark World War II’s Victory Day, but Ukraine is deeply skeptical of the proposal and has called to extend the cessation in fighting.

Even as Washington pushes for a quick peace deal — although that effort may be waning — the precise terms of any eventual agreement “matter greatly,” the historian Mary Elise Sarotte wrote: If the US were to formally recognize Russian claim to Ukrainian territory, it would undermine the notion of a safe European border and create a “more permissive environment for transgressions.”