Putin Says Ukraine War Nearing Its End, Russia Responds to Drone Hit in Romania

Russian President Vladimir Putin on Friday (May 29, 2026), said the Ukraine war was nearing its end, citing the battlefield situation.

“The situation on the battlefield is developing in such a way that it gives us the right to say that the situation is nearing its end,” Putin was quoted by the Russian media as saying.

However, the Russian President struck a note of caution, saying it would be reckless to name a specific timeframe for the end of the conflict in Ukraine.

“Regarding the timeframe, I think you and all my colleagues understand and will understand my answer. Giving specific timeframes during combat is impossible,” he said.

“Not only is it reckless, but it’s also practically never done, and I won’t do it,” Putin was quoted as telling journalists.

He, however, said Russia was ready to continue negotiations on Ukraine and has never rejected them. “We’ve never refused to negotiate. Please, we haven’t stopped them. We are ready to continue,” he said, adding that certain contacts were maintained, but there were no negotiations as such.

The Russian President said all locations that posed a direct military threat to his nation were legitimate targets in the war.

Arguing that the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) had deceived Russia, he reminded that the military bloc had promised not to take a single step to the east.

“The tragedy unfolding in Ukraine is their (EU nations’) doing. It is the result of their policies,” he said, blaming NATO as the cause for the war.

“Because it was they who brought the coup d’etat in Kyiv in 2014, which led to Russia’s need to protect the people of Crimea and then…I won’t go into details…I’ve said this many times…to assist the Donetsk and Luhansk People’s Republics, which didn’t recognise for a long time, didn’t recognise for years,” he said.

Meanwhile, European representatives held an informal consultation in London on resolving the conflict in Ukraine.

“Informal talks between European countries in Ukraine are taking place in London today. They’re discussing the need to reach an agreement with Russia, the sanctions regime, and other issues,” another Russian media report said.

EU countries discussed a fresh package of sanctions on Russia, which would be the 21st round since the all-out invasion began in February 2022.

Meanwhile, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen claimed Russia’s “war of aggression has crossed yet another line” after a drone hit a residential building in Romania, an EU member and Ukraine neighbour.

“We stand in full solidarity with Romania and its people,” Leyen wrote in a social media post. “As we continue to strengthen our security and deterrence, especially on our eastern border, we will keep increasing the pressure on Russia,” she said.

The EU’s foreign policy chief, Kaja Kallas, said she had spoken to Romanian Foreign Minister Oana Toiu to convey the bloc’s “full solidarity with Romania.”

“Moscow cannot be allowed to breach European airspace with impunity,” Kallas said, calling the incident “a blatant and serious violation of Romania’s sovereignty and European airspace.”

After the drone strike on its territory, Romania ordered the closure of the Russian consulate in Constanta. The drone, said to be of Russian origin, crashed into an apartment building in Romania’s eastern part, injuring two people.

Romanian President Nicușor Dan announced the Russian consulate closure and declared the Russian consul in the Black Sea port city persona non grata. Romania’s foreign ministry also summoned the Russian ambassador in Bucharest over the incident.

Romanian military said a Geran-2, the Russian variant of the Iranian-designed Shahed drone, had crashed into the apartment building in Galati, right across the borders with southern Ukraine and Moldova.

Putin, reacting to the drone crash, said it was too soon to say that the drone that crashed was Russian, and called for Moscow to be shown evidence.

“No one can say the origin of this or that aircraft until an examination of that aircraft is conducted,” Putin said in Kazakhstan. “If they provide us with any objective data… in that case, will we assess what happened,” he said, as the Russian Foreign Ministry said it would respond adequately to the closure of its consulate in Constanta