Putin: Russia wants 'complete and final' end to Ukraine conflict

Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Friday that Moscow supports "a complete and final end" to the Ukraine conflict rather than "some kind of truce or cease-fire."

Putin, however, reiterated his demand that Ukrainian forces must withdraw from the Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson, and Zaporizhzhia regions during a press conference in Moscow after meeting with Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban.

Other terms are "a subject for consideration," he added.

"Russia is committed to the complete and definitive resolution of the conflict. The conditions for this are outlined in my speech (to the Foreign Ministry)-the withdrawal of all troops from the Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson, and Zaporizhzhia regions. There are other conditions which are a subject for consideration in the course of possible joint work," he noted.

Putin argued that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy avoids peace talks because doing so would require him to lift martial law and hold a presidential election, and his chances of winning are close to zero.

Regarding Russia's relations with the EU, Putin said they are currently "at the lowest ebb," and that he has discussed the future security architecture in Europe with Orban.

During the talks, the Russian president said, the Hungarian prime minister primarily expressed Western views, including those on Ukraine.

"We perceive the prime minister's visit as an attempt to restore dialogue and give it an additional impetus," Putin said.

For his part, Orban said Hungary considers ensuring peace in Europe its main task during the presidency of the EU Council, for this purpose he came to Moscow.

"I wanted to know what is the shortest way to end the war, and I wanted to know the president's opinion on three issues -- what does he think about the existing peace initiatives on Ukraine, the possibility of a cease-fire and peace talks -- what should be the order to hold them, and the vision of Europe after the war," he said.

The prime minister emphasized that in recent years, "there have been almost no countries that could have contacts with both sides, and Hungary is one of the few such countries."

"There are still a lot of steps to be taken to get closer to the end of the war. We have made the most important step today by establishing contacts and will continue to work in this direction," he said.