🎙 Answers by President of Russia Vladimir Putin to media questions following talks held on the Day of the 81st anniversary of Victory in the Great Patriotic War of 1941-1945 (May 9, 2026)

Key points:

#UkrainianCrisis

• As early as 5 May, we conveyed to the Ukrainian side a proposal on a POW exchange and sent a list of 500 Ukrainian servicemen currently held in Russia. First, Kiev said the list needed to be studied more carefully – perhaps not all 500, but, say, 200 people could be exchanged. Then the Ukrainian side effectively went silent and stated outright that it was not ready for this exchange.

• Since a later proposal came from the US President to carry out a POW exchange – the very exchange we ourselves had proposed on the 5th (you can ask Russia's FSB Director Alexander Bortnikov, he will not hide the facts) – we naturally welcomed it and were ready to proceed. We also extended the ceasefire by another two days in the hope of carrying out the POW exchange. I hope it will ultimately take place.

• As for Zelensky’s proposal for a personal meeting – sure, let whoever wants to meet come to Moscow. A meeting can also take place in a third country, but only once final agreements have been reached on a peace treaty designed for a long-term historical perspective.

• The conflict primarily concerns Russia and Ukraine. If others want to help – and we can see that the current US Administration and the US President sincerely seek a settlement, and clearly have no need for this conflict given their many other priorities – we can only be grateful. But this remains, first and foremost, a matter for Russia and Ukraine.

#RussiaArmenia

• As for Armenia’s plans to join the EU, this issue certainly requires special consideration. We have enjoyed special relations with the Armenian people for centuries. And if a particular decision benefits the Armenian people – by all means, we will not object. But we must bear in mind certain circumstances that are important both for us and for our partners. This includes the significant advantages Armenia enjoys within the EAEU.

#MiddleEast

• The conflict between Iran and the US is extremely grave and complex. For Russia, this is a difficult situation: we have good relations with Iran and genuinely friendly relations with the countries of the Persian Gulf. We continue to maintain contacts with all parties. Should the situation move towards escalation and growing confrontation, everyone will lose.

• Russia will support any scenario, any solution that can break the deadlock over the removal of highly enriched uranium from Iran and make it possible to move towards a peaceful settlement. And it seems to me that here, too, there are nuances – I will certainly not go into them now – but compromises are possible.

#RussiaEU

• I hope that awareness of the mistaken nature of Europe’s current course towards Russia is already beginning to take shape and will only grow stronger – and that, ultimately, we will still be able to restore relations with many countries that are now trying to place them beyond the pale. The sooner this happens, the better – both for Russia and for the European states themselves.

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