Russia Prepared to Keep Fighting if Ukraine Diplomacy Fails, Putin Says

In Photos: Putin Attends SCO Summit, Military Parade in China This Week

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President Vladimir Putin suggested on Wednesday that there may be “light at the end of the tunnel” in negotiations to end the war against Ukraine, but paired his hint of optimism

Speaking at a moonlit press conference in Beijing after attending a Chinese military parade marking 80 years since Japan’s surrender in World War II, Putin struck his familiar tone of defiance mixed with guarded flexibility.

“If common sense prevails, it should be possible to agree on an acceptable way to end the conflict, that’s my assumption,” he said, standing before a crowd of Russian

“We’ll see how the situation evolves,” Putin added. “If not, then we will have to achieve our objectives

The parade in Beijing, as well as an annual summit of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) in Tianjin over the weekend, has been viewed

Putin on Wednesday insisted that any peace settlement would require what he called the “legitimacy” of Ukraine’s leadership, suggesting that Kyiv hold a referendum, something he said could not occur under martial law.

“Security guarantees are natural. Every country should have them, Ukraine included,” he said. “But that is not connected with territorial exchanges. We are fighting not so much for territory, but for human rights.”

The remarks came amid ongoing discussions in Europe, where France and Britain are leading a so-called “coalition of the willing” — an informal group of Western countries vowing to provide security guarantees to Ukraine following a peace agreement with Russia. The details of those possible guarantees remain vague, while Trump has ruled out Ukraine joining NATO.

During the press conference in Beijing, Putin also painted a triumphant

“All groupings of Russia’s armed forces are advancing successfully in all directions,” the president said.

At the same time, he sought to push back against Western portrayals of the Beijing military parade, as well as the annual SCO summit, as a defiant show of anti-Western unity, describing the meetings as constructive. 

“For four days, there was nothing one could call ‘confrontational,’” Putin said. “We are not thinking about outmaneuvering or outplaying anyone. We are thinking about how to best organize our work.”

On Tuesday, Trump, writing on his Truth Social platform, accused Russia, China and North Korea of “conspiring” against the United States.

“The U.S. president is not without a sense of humor,” Putin said when asked to comment on Trump’s accusation, adding that, in Beijing, “nobody expressed negative views about the current American administration.”

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