Zelenskyy has instructed officials to try to end war as soon as possible, preferably before winter

Jun 1, 2026 - 17:11

Kyrylo Budanov, Head of the Office of the President of Ukraine, has said President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has instructed officials to make every effort to end the Russia-Ukraine war as soon as possible.

Source: Budanov at the Architecture of Security Forum 2026, as reported by Ukrainian public broadcaster Suspilne

Quote: "This is the president's instruction – to try to end this war as soon as possible. Preferably before winter. As the head of the President's Office, I will do everything I can to achieve the objective set by the president of Ukraine. It is absolutely correct, timely and well thought out."

Details: Budanov stressed that Ukraine has sufficient capabilities to achieve this goal, although he did not rule out the possibility that Russia could refuse to reach agreements.

He added that there are already "real signs of a cessation of hostilities".

Background:

On 9 May, Russian ruler Vladimir Putin stated that he is willing to meet Zelenskyy in a third country, but only to sign a final agreement ending the war. He claimed that "the Ukrainian conflict is moving towards an end".
On 12 May, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said the reason Putin stated that the end of the war against Ukraine was supposedly approaching was because of "progress" made in the peace process and US mediation efforts, although he gave no specific timeline.
On 29 May, Putin said he had concluded that the war in Ukraine is nearing its end based on his analysis of the battlefield situation.