Europe rejects Putin’s pick for peace mediator after claim war is ‘coming to an end’

Russian president Vladimir Putin said he believes the Ukraine war is “coming to an end,” remarks made shortly after Russia held a noticeably scaled-down Victory Day parade in Moscow.

Putin also hinted at possible future negotiations on European security and floated former German Chancellor Gerhard Schröder as a potential intermediary, though many European leaders rejected the idea.

Ukraine and Russia accused each other of repeatedly violating a US-backed temporary ceasefire almost immediately after it came into effect.

Kyiv reported continued drone strikes, battlefield clashes, and civilian deaths, while Moscow claimed Ukrainian drones and shelling targeted Russian territory and positions.

Despite the truce reducing some large-scale attacks, both sides said fighting never truly stopped.

Germany rejected Russian president Vladimir Putin’s suggestion that former German chancellor Gerhard Schröder could help mediate peace talks between Russia and the European Union over Ukraine.

Putin had named Schröder as his preferred intermediary after European Council president Antonio Costa said there was “potential” for talks with Moscow about Europe’s future security structure.

But German officials dismissed the idea as not credible, saying Russia had not changed any of its demands on Ukraine or shown serious interest in negotiations.

One official told Reuters the Kremlin was making bogus offers aimed at dividing Western allies and said a real test of Russia’s intentions would be whether it agreed to extend a temporary three-day ceasefire.

Schröder remains controversial in Germany because of his close ties to Putin and his work with Russian energy companies after leaving office. Berlin also stressed that any talks involving the EU must be closely coordinated with Ukraine and European member states.

Latvian defence minister Andris Spruds resigned after two Ukrainian drones crossed into Latvia from Russia and struck oil storage tanks in the eastern city of Rezekne.

Latvian prime minister Evika Silina demanded his resignation, saying the country’s anti-drone systems were not activated quickly enough.

The incident prompted Latvia and neighbouring Lithuania to urge Nato to strengthen air defences in the Baltic region.

Ukrainian foreign minister Andrii Sybiha said the drones were Ukrainian but claimed they had been deliberately diverted off course by Russian electronic warfare while targeting sites inside Russia.

Ukraine also said it was considering sending experts to help improve Baltic air security after the incident.

Russia criticised Armenia after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky made remarks in Yerevan suggesting Russia feared possible drone attacks over Moscow’s Red Square during the 9 May Victory Day parade.

The Kremlin’s spokesperson, Dmitry Peskov, accused Armenia of giving Zelenskyy “a platform for anti-Russian remarks” and said Moscow expected an explanation from Yerevan.

Peskov stressed that Russia did not want Armenia to adopt an “anti-Russian stance”, AS growing tensions between the two longtime allies as Armenia moves closer to Western and European partners.

Russia has accused Kyiv of breaking a US-brokered ceasefire, while Ukrainian officials claimed one person had been killed and more injured by Russian drone and artillery strikes in the past 24 hours.

Two people were injured by Ukrainian shelling in the Russian-occupied part of Ukraine‘s Kherson region, the area’s Moscow-installed leader Vladimir Saldo said on Sunday.

Separately, Russia’s ministry of defence accused Kyiv of committing more than 1,000 ceasefire violations, state media reported, citing a daily briefing on Sunday. The ministry stated Ukrainian forces had attacked civilian targets in several Russian regions and carried out strikes against Russian military positions on the frontline.

Vladimir Putin recently suggested that former German Chancellor Gerhard Schroder could help negotiate peace in Ukraine, saying he believes the war may be “coming to an end”.

The idea divided opinion in Germany. Former lawmaker Michael Roth said a mediator “cannot be Putin’s buddy” and stressed that Ukraine should decide who can take part in peace talks.

“Neither Moscow nor we can decide that on Kyiv’s behalf,” he said in an interview with Tagesspiegel.

But some members of Germany’s Social Democratic Party said the proposal should still be “carefully considered” with European partners.

Schroder has stayed close to Russian president Putin even after Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022. He also worked on major Russian energy projects, including the Nord Stream gas pipelines and the Russian oil company Rosneft.

Kremlin adviser Yuri Ushakov said on Sunday that US special envoy Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner are expected to visit Moscow soon for fresh talks aimed at pushing forward peace efforts between Russia and Ukraine, according to news agency Interfax.

The planned visit comes as a fragile three-day ceasefire brokered by the US faced strain, with both Moscow and Kyiv accusing each other of continued attacks and battlefield clashes.

Donald Trump had presented the temporary truce, announced during Russia’s Victory Day celebrations, as a possible first step toward ending the war.

However, Ukrainian officials reported deadly Russian drone strikes and hundreds of frontline clashes after the ceasefire began, while Russia accused Ukraine of launching dozens of drones into Russian territory.

European Union’s Kaja Kallas criticised Russian president Vladimir Putin’s suggestion that former German chancellor Gerhard Schroder could help mediate Ukraine peace talks.

Kallas said Schroder, who worked with Russian state energy companies after leaving office, would effectively be “sitting on both sides of the table”.She added that it “would not be wise to give Russia right to negotiate on our behalf”.

Her remarks came after Putin proposed Schroder as a possible intermediary between Russia and the European Union, a suggestion that has sparked criticism across Europe because of Schroder’s long-standing ties to the Kremlin and Russian energy interests.

Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky, who earlier said Russian authorities “fear drones may buzz over Red Square” during Moscow’s Victory Day parade, later joked that the area would temporarily be spared from Ukrainian strikes so the celebrations could proceed.The Kremlin dismissed his remarks as a “silly joke”.

Earlier, a three-day ceasefire between Russia and Ukraine announced by Donald Trump on Friday eased concerns over a possible Ukrainian attack during Moscow’s Red Square Victory Day parade, though it appeared unlikely to lead to a wider peace agreement.

Earlier unilateral ceasefires declared by both sides had quickly broken down, with Russia and Ukraine accusing each other of violations.

Trump said the leaders of both countries had agreed to pause fighting from Saturday through Monday and carry out a prisoner exchange, adding that the temporary truce could mark the “beginning of the end” of the war, which is now in its fifth year.