May 9, 2026 • 9 mins
Russian president Vladimir Putin says the war in Ukraine is coming to an end.
The conflict has been ongoing since Russia's initial invasion in 2022, and Putin had been speaking in the Kremlin following a very scaled-back Victory Day parade.
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Speaker 1 (00:05):
You're listening to the Weekend Collective podcast from News Talks, I'd.
Speaker 2 (00:09):
Be Russian president has said or hinted that he thinks
the war in Ukraine is coming to an end, swift
saying that was after some fairly feisty talk just a
few hours before. But he made the comments following the
scale the very scale back Victory Day parade commemorating the
Soviet Union's victory over the Nazis. And as you will
(00:32):
have seen, you know, a lot of comment around how
scaled back it was. There were no big intercontinental ballistic
missiles and hardware. It was all on video screen. And anyway,
Zelensky had agreed that he wouldn't actually be attacking it
as well, And we'll discuss that right now with international
law professor ol Gillespie is with us now. Good afternoon,
(00:54):
Good afternoon, Hey, Sir Putin has made some recent comments
about the war maybe nearing an end.
Speaker 3 (01:01):
What do you make of that? Is it genuine signaling
or something else?
Speaker 4 (01:05):
I'd say, fingers cross, hold your breath. I mean, we've
we've heard a lot of promises, not just with the
war in Ukraine but also in the Middle East right
now with Iran where we're in this kind of continual
turmoil between ceasefires and promises of peace but nothing actually
your ventuance, and Russia has got a long history of
(01:27):
not actually concluding this conflict but just waiting for them
to burn out.
Speaker 2 (01:30):
Well, what did you make of the Victory Day parade
because it was obviously paired back though worried about strikes
by drones from Ukraine. But did you what's your observation
of that?
Speaker 4 (01:42):
Well, I think that's why it was so important for
mister Putin to have the seafire for three days, so
that you didn't have some kind of drone andtack going
on while he was trying to do a public talk,
And it made sense to be able to control that
aspect of risk, and so that's allowed him to come
out make his public appearance. And there is concern also
that he may be increasingly targeted because of his views
(02:03):
on the war. I think, sorry so not.
Speaker 2 (02:08):
I actually I was wondering about how much pressure he
is under because there have been those threats to a
security and a couple of generals being bumped off.
Speaker 3 (02:16):
How much danger is he in do you think?
Speaker 4 (02:18):
I think all leaders in today's world are at risk,
especially those involved in conflict. And you can see that
not just with regard to mister Putin, but obviously mister Trump,
where there's a number assassination attempts. In recent times, it's
becoming increasingly common for people who are feeling angry to
have a pop at their leaders.
Speaker 2 (02:36):
What about the decision of Zelensky actually to go along?
I think it was broken by Trump, wasn't it the
idea that Ukraine would hold back against any attack?
Speaker 3 (02:44):
Was that actually a smart move?
Speaker 4 (02:46):
Do you think that is a smart move? At some
point this war has to be brought to an end.
The question is on what terms it actually comes to
a conclusion, and debate will be around the territory, the
security guarantees, and whether there will be any accountability for
the crimes that have been committed. And so I think
(03:07):
it's one thing to say they want peace right now,
but we've got to see where they actually land, and
that will have implications for all of Europe. Of course,
whether Ukraine is allowed to be part of NATO, which
I very much doubt, or whether there's going to be
some kind of independent force that would go in debt
to monitor the piece, which would be a de facto
NATO grouping, which could include New Zealand as well. And
so we all have to see what the terms are.
(03:29):
It's one thing to say you want peace. The question
is on what terms will you actually agree to it.
Speaker 2 (03:33):
It's hard to imagine that there would be any form
of accountability unless Ukraine actually won the war.
Speaker 3 (03:38):
What's and I've done?
Speaker 2 (03:39):
If you agree with that, but what are the chances
of anyone actually winning the war?
Speaker 4 (03:44):
I think you will have peace without victory, and that
you won't have one side another. And so even though
Russia has had over fourteen rounds of sanctions on it,
I don't think they're going to push Russia to making
a complete peace deal that would involve the return of
the Crimea or the return of the eastern Ukraine. What
you're likely to see is some kind of compromise deal.
(04:06):
The question is where they land, because this war is
unsustainable for both science in terms of both the human
and economic cost.
Speaker 2 (04:14):
Well, looking more broadly of course, with obviously Ukraine has
been reliant on.
Speaker 3 (04:20):
Not just the sort of moral.
Speaker 2 (04:23):
Support of Europe, but increasingly, of course of the actual
defensive support with hardware and all that.
Speaker 3 (04:30):
Where are the West at?
Speaker 2 (04:31):
Where is the West at with its support for Ukraine.
Speaker 4 (04:35):
Well, the NATO is broadly quite in support of Ukraine.
Europe is strongly in support of Ukraine. Even non NATO
countries like New Zealand and Australia are not neutral in
this conflict, and so we give financial assistance and military assistance.
We are by no means neutral or ambivalent about what happens.
(04:57):
Where there is ambiguity is what mister Trump wants, because
he's much more willing to use his power influx to
achieve what he's trying to seek. And so while Europe
is dead fast, I think Native is dead fast. Although
NATO is not direct involved in the war and their
company countries like New Zealand and Australia are diad fast.
It's America where the question markers.
Speaker 2 (05:18):
As America is still going to play a significant part
in it, because it does seem that Germany and Europe
is stepping up more and more.
Speaker 3 (05:25):
Where do you see the role of the US.
Speaker 4 (05:28):
I think a lot of people confuse America with mister Trump,
and mister Trump is just one president and the relationship
of America with Europe and NATO in particular is intergenerational,
and I hope it will come back to a much
more stable position in a couple of years.
Speaker 2 (05:44):
What did you make of Putin's actual remarks that you know,
I think he talked about he would be he'd like
to talk to Gerhard Schroeder, who's I don't think someone
the Ukrainians particularly fonder, but he has at least made
some sort of comment about, you know, the war could
come to an end and he might be willing at
some states to talk to anyone. I know I sort
of started the interview with that question. But what do
you make of the positive? It's it's positive.
Speaker 4 (06:06):
It's always better to try to talk your way out
of the situation than try to find your way out
of one. And if there is any opportunity for peace,
we should hope that we all countries can go towards that.
But as I say, it's not a question of an
absolute victory, at the question of peace on what terms
and whether how much territory Ukraine is willing to concede,
(06:27):
And critically, what happens to the security relationship around Ukraine
with NATO and other forces coming in for a clip
of security.
Speaker 2 (06:34):
Because clearly there'll have to be some sort of concessions
on territory weren't there.
Speaker 4 (06:39):
It appears that that's very likely that there'll be concessions,
but the question is whether that will involve territory which
is already been militarily conquered by Russia, or whether they
want more.
Speaker 3 (06:52):
How much.
Speaker 2 (06:54):
It's the wrong question to say how much power does
Ukraine have, but how much influence does Ukraine have? And
because it has been off the radar, what's been going
on with the war? And I gather that Ukraine has
actually been having some causing a lot of pain to Russia.
And obviously we know that there have been hundreds of
thousands of Russian soldiers have lost their lives. So how
(07:15):
much have they gotten the kitty Ukraine when it comes
to further final negotiations or approaching it at.
Speaker 4 (07:21):
Least, I think both sciences need peace and the endurance
of Ukraine to continue this conflict, especially in terms of
manpower and economically, is becoming questionable. But that same pressure
has been applied on Russia and it's probably increasing, Like
their economy is not withered as people thought with fourteen
(07:43):
rounds of sanctions, but it's certainly slowed down. And at
the same time, the country has become much more repressive
internally with regards to its media and its ability to
protest to object to what's going on, and so I
think this has created a Russia which many Russians are
currently unhappy with.
Speaker 2 (08:01):
So I mean, as a last sort of observation, if
we're six months a here, do you think we will
have made some progress towards actually wrapping the war up?
Or do you think it's going to drag on for
another year, two or something like that.
Speaker 4 (08:15):
I think it's possible there could be a deal. I mean,
mister Trump's also been working very hard, it needs to
be commended to this to try to get some kind
of brokerage between the two sides. I hope that they
can find the midway point. But at the moment, as
I said at the beginning, fingers crossed, don't held your breath.
Speaker 3 (08:31):
Well, of course, that's sorry. I said.
Speaker 2 (08:33):
One last question, but just maybe one further one is
that I think if I read things right, putin actually
even mentions Zelenski by name that he would at some
stage be happy to meet him in the final stages.
Does that do we read anything from that that he
never would have mentioned that six months ago would.
Speaker 4 (08:48):
He Yeah, that would be that would be great if
they could actually meet in person. But there's other good
faith steps that you can take towards that, and like
they've already done that with say prisoner exchanges, and that's
to be commendable, but you could go further in terms
of like the repatriation of civilian populations and the steps
that would create a momentum to go forward. But just
(09:10):
mentioning mister Zelenski by name is I mean, but that's nice.
But the proofs in the pudding.
Speaker 2 (09:14):
Yeah, hi, al, I really appreciate your tim this Stupennon,
thanks so much.
Speaker 1 (09:19):
For more from the Weekend Collective, listen live to News
Talk ZEDB weekends from three pm, or follow the podcast
on iHeartRadio
You're listening to the Weekend Collective podcast from News Talks, I'd.
Speaker 2 (00:09):
Be Russian president has said or hinted that he thinks
the war in Ukraine is coming to an end, swift
saying that was after some fairly feisty talk just a
few hours before. But he made the comments following the
scale the very scale back Victory Day parade commemorating the
Soviet Union's victory over the Nazis. And as you will
(00:32):
have seen, you know, a lot of comment around how
scaled back it was. There were no big intercontinental ballistic
missiles and hardware. It was all on video screen. And anyway,
Zelensky had agreed that he wouldn't actually be attacking it
as well, And we'll discuss that right now with international
law professor ol Gillespie is with us now. Good afternoon,
(00:54):
Good afternoon, Hey, Sir Putin has made some recent comments
about the war maybe nearing an end.
Speaker 3 (01:01):
What do you make of that? Is it genuine signaling
or something else?
Speaker 4 (01:05):
I'd say, fingers cross, hold your breath. I mean, we've
we've heard a lot of promises, not just with the
war in Ukraine but also in the Middle East right
now with Iran where we're in this kind of continual
turmoil between ceasefires and promises of peace but nothing actually
your ventuance, and Russia has got a long history of
(01:27):
not actually concluding this conflict but just waiting for them
to burn out.
Speaker 2 (01:30):
Well, what did you make of the Victory Day parade
because it was obviously paired back though worried about strikes
by drones from Ukraine. But did you what's your observation
of that?
Speaker 4 (01:42):
Well, I think that's why it was so important for
mister Putin to have the seafire for three days, so
that you didn't have some kind of drone andtack going
on while he was trying to do a public talk,
And it made sense to be able to control that
aspect of risk, and so that's allowed him to come
out make his public appearance. And there is concern also
that he may be increasingly targeted because of his views
(02:03):
on the war. I think, sorry so not.
Speaker 2 (02:08):
I actually I was wondering about how much pressure he
is under because there have been those threats to a
security and a couple of generals being bumped off.
Speaker 3 (02:16):
How much danger is he in do you think?
Speaker 4 (02:18):
I think all leaders in today's world are at risk,
especially those involved in conflict. And you can see that
not just with regard to mister Putin, but obviously mister Trump,
where there's a number assassination attempts. In recent times, it's
becoming increasingly common for people who are feeling angry to
have a pop at their leaders.
Speaker 2 (02:36):
What about the decision of Zelensky actually to go along?
I think it was broken by Trump, wasn't it the
idea that Ukraine would hold back against any attack?
Speaker 3 (02:44):
Was that actually a smart move?
Speaker 4 (02:46):
Do you think that is a smart move? At some
point this war has to be brought to an end.
The question is on what terms it actually comes to
a conclusion, and debate will be around the territory, the
security guarantees, and whether there will be any accountability for
the crimes that have been committed. And so I think
(03:07):
it's one thing to say they want peace right now,
but we've got to see where they actually land, and
that will have implications for all of Europe. Of course,
whether Ukraine is allowed to be part of NATO, which
I very much doubt, or whether there's going to be
some kind of independent force that would go in debt
to monitor the piece, which would be a de facto
NATO grouping, which could include New Zealand as well. And
so we all have to see what the terms are.
(03:29):
It's one thing to say you want peace. The question
is on what terms will you actually agree to it.
Speaker 2 (03:33):
It's hard to imagine that there would be any form
of accountability unless Ukraine actually won the war.
Speaker 3 (03:38):
What's and I've done?
Speaker 2 (03:39):
If you agree with that, but what are the chances
of anyone actually winning the war?
Speaker 4 (03:44):
I think you will have peace without victory, and that
you won't have one side another. And so even though
Russia has had over fourteen rounds of sanctions on it,
I don't think they're going to push Russia to making
a complete peace deal that would involve the return of
the Crimea or the return of the eastern Ukraine. What
you're likely to see is some kind of compromise deal.
(04:06):
The question is where they land, because this war is
unsustainable for both science in terms of both the human
and economic cost.
Speaker 2 (04:14):
Well, looking more broadly of course, with obviously Ukraine has
been reliant on.
Speaker 3 (04:20):
Not just the sort of moral.
Speaker 2 (04:23):
Support of Europe, but increasingly, of course of the actual
defensive support with hardware and all that.
Speaker 3 (04:30):
Where are the West at?
Speaker 2 (04:31):
Where is the West at with its support for Ukraine.
Speaker 4 (04:35):
Well, the NATO is broadly quite in support of Ukraine.
Europe is strongly in support of Ukraine. Even non NATO
countries like New Zealand and Australia are not neutral in
this conflict, and so we give financial assistance and military assistance.
We are by no means neutral or ambivalent about what happens.
(04:57):
Where there is ambiguity is what mister Trump wants, because
he's much more willing to use his power influx to
achieve what he's trying to seek. And so while Europe
is dead fast, I think Native is dead fast. Although
NATO is not direct involved in the war and their
company countries like New Zealand and Australia are diad fast.
It's America where the question markers.
Speaker 2 (05:18):
As America is still going to play a significant part
in it, because it does seem that Germany and Europe
is stepping up more and more.
Speaker 3 (05:25):
Where do you see the role of the US.
Speaker 4 (05:28):
I think a lot of people confuse America with mister Trump,
and mister Trump is just one president and the relationship
of America with Europe and NATO in particular is intergenerational,
and I hope it will come back to a much
more stable position in a couple of years.
Speaker 2 (05:44):
What did you make of Putin's actual remarks that you know,
I think he talked about he would be he'd like
to talk to Gerhard Schroeder, who's I don't think someone
the Ukrainians particularly fonder, but he has at least made
some sort of comment about, you know, the war could
come to an end and he might be willing at
some states to talk to anyone. I know I sort
of started the interview with that question. But what do
you make of the positive? It's it's positive.
Speaker 4 (06:06):
It's always better to try to talk your way out
of the situation than try to find your way out
of one. And if there is any opportunity for peace,
we should hope that we all countries can go towards that.
But as I say, it's not a question of an
absolute victory, at the question of peace on what terms
and whether how much territory Ukraine is willing to concede,
(06:27):
And critically, what happens to the security relationship around Ukraine
with NATO and other forces coming in for a clip
of security.
Speaker 2 (06:34):
Because clearly there'll have to be some sort of concessions
on territory weren't there.
Speaker 4 (06:39):
It appears that that's very likely that there'll be concessions,
but the question is whether that will involve territory which
is already been militarily conquered by Russia, or whether they
want more.
Speaker 3 (06:52):
How much.
Speaker 2 (06:54):
It's the wrong question to say how much power does
Ukraine have, but how much influence does Ukraine have? And
because it has been off the radar, what's been going
on with the war? And I gather that Ukraine has
actually been having some causing a lot of pain to Russia.
And obviously we know that there have been hundreds of
thousands of Russian soldiers have lost their lives. So how
(07:15):
much have they gotten the kitty Ukraine when it comes
to further final negotiations or approaching it at.
Speaker 4 (07:21):
Least, I think both sciences need peace and the endurance
of Ukraine to continue this conflict, especially in terms of
manpower and economically, is becoming questionable. But that same pressure
has been applied on Russia and it's probably increasing, Like
their economy is not withered as people thought with fourteen
(07:43):
rounds of sanctions, but it's certainly slowed down. And at
the same time, the country has become much more repressive
internally with regards to its media and its ability to
protest to object to what's going on, and so I
think this has created a Russia which many Russians are
currently unhappy with.
Speaker 2 (08:01):
So I mean, as a last sort of observation, if
we're six months a here, do you think we will
have made some progress towards actually wrapping the war up?
Or do you think it's going to drag on for
another year, two or something like that.
Speaker 4 (08:15):
I think it's possible there could be a deal. I mean,
mister Trump's also been working very hard, it needs to
be commended to this to try to get some kind
of brokerage between the two sides. I hope that they
can find the midway point. But at the moment, as
I said at the beginning, fingers crossed, don't held your breath.
Speaker 3 (08:31):
Well, of course, that's sorry. I said.
Speaker 2 (08:33):
One last question, but just maybe one further one is
that I think if I read things right, putin actually
even mentions Zelenski by name that he would at some
stage be happy to meet him in the final stages.
Does that do we read anything from that that he
never would have mentioned that six months ago would.
Speaker 4 (08:48):
He Yeah, that would be that would be great if
they could actually meet in person. But there's other good
faith steps that you can take towards that, and like
they've already done that with say prisoner exchanges, and that's
to be commendable, but you could go further in terms
of like the repatriation of civilian populations and the steps
that would create a momentum to go forward. But just
(09:10):
mentioning mister Zelenski by name is I mean, but that's nice.
But the proofs in the pudding.
Speaker 2 (09:14):
Yeah, hi, al, I really appreciate your tim this Stupennon,
thanks so much.
Speaker 1 (09:19):
For more from the Weekend Collective, listen live to News
Talk ZEDB weekends from three pm, or follow the podcast
on iHeartRadio
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