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Vladimir Putin has said he thinks the Ukraine war is winding down – remarks that came a few hours after he had vowed to defeat Ukraine at Moscow’s most scaled-back Victory Day parade in years.

“I think that the matter is coming to an end,” Putin told reporters of the Russia-Ukraine war, Europe’s deadliest conflict since the second world war. He said he would be willing to negotiate new security arrangements for Europe, and that his preferred negotiating partner would be Germany’s former chancellor Gerhard Schröder.

Putin, who has ruled Russia as president or prime minister since the last day of 1999, faces a wave of anxiety in Moscow about the war in Ukraine, which has killed hundreds of thousands of people, left swathes of Ukraine in ruins, and drained Russia’s economy. Russia’s relations with Europe are worse than at any time since the depths of the cold war.

Russian forces have so far been unable to take the whole of the Donbas region of eastern Ukraine where Kyiv’s forces have been pushed back to a line of fortress cities. Russian advances have slowed this year, though Moscow controls just under one-fifth of Ukrainian territory.

Speaking on Saturday, Putin slammed western support for Kyiv, as the first day of a Russia-Ukraine ceasefire was marked by mutual accusations of violations.

“They [the west] started ratcheting up the confrontation with Russia, which continues to this day.

“I think it [the war] is heading to an end but it’s still a serious matter.

“They spent months waiting for Russia to suffer a crushing defeat, for its statehood to collapse. It didn’t work out.

“And then they got stuck in that groove and now they can’t get out of it.”

Putin added that he was ready to meet Volodymyr Zelenskyy, in a third country only once all conditions for a potential peace agreement were settled – holding to his usual position on a meeting with his Ukrainian counterpart.

“This should be the final point, not the negotiations themselves,” he said.

Asked if he was willing to engage in talks with the Europeans, Putin said: “For me personally, the former chancellor of the Federal Republic of Germany, Mr Schröder, is preferable.”

Many in Ukraine and Europe will be sceptical of involving Schröder given his background as a close friend of Putin and history of ties to Russian business and projects, such as the Nord Stream gas pipelines. In 2022, after the war broke out, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, Ukraine’s president, called Schröder “disgusting” for meeting with Putin and speaking in the Russian ruler’s favour.

Russia, Ukraine and Donald Trump on Friday announced that a three-day ceasefire between both sides would come into effect from Saturday. Moscow and Kyiv traded accusations of violations amid continued drone activity and civilian casualties on both sides.

The Kremlin said there were no plans to prolong the truce. The warring sides also agreed to swap 1,000 prisoners each during the truce. Putin said on Saturday that Russia had not yet received any proposals from Ukraine on the exchange.

The Victory Day parade was vastly smaller compared to previous years, with no military hardware on display for the first time in nearly two decades and only a handful of foreign dignitaries in attendance – most of them leaders of Russia’s close allies.

In the week prior there had been clear notes of desperation from the Russian side that the parade not be disturbed by Ukrainian attacks. Moscow threatened to bomb the centre of Kyiv including foreign embassies, warning overseas missions to evacuate their staff.

For his part, Zelenskyy – after earlier issuing a “decree” allowing the Moscow parade to go ahead – observed Saturday as Europe Day, which is celebrated as a foundational day of the EU. He said Ukraine was an “inseparable part of the European family”.

“From the first days of the full-scale war until today, Europe has stood with Ukraine,” Zelenskyy said. “And this is not charity – it is a choice made by Europeans: to stand on the same side as the brave and the strong.”

Only the leaders of Belarus, Malaysia, Laos, Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan were listed as attending Putin’s parade, in contrast to high-profile visitors including China’s Xi Jinping during last year’s event.

Now in its fifth year, the war has killed hundreds of thousands of people and spiralled into Europe’s deadliest since the second world war.

The European Council president, António Costa, said last week that he believed there was “potential” for the EU to negotiate with Russia, and to discuss the future of the security architecture of Europe.

With Reuters and Agence France-Presse

But arguably his biggest journalistic contribution was to UFC’s website, a place where week after week, month after month, and year after year, he told the stories of the men and women who stepped into the Octagon. He was guided by the mantra “tell the stories that only we can tell,” and demanded that his team do the same. Giving as much credence to a young new fighter on the early prelims as he did the most decorated of champions, Gerbasi’s words introduced the world to thousands of MMA athletes. He spent his days talking to each and every member of the UFC roster, who implicitly trusted him to tell their diverse and inspiring stories. 

Beyond the printed and digital media domains, Gerbasi’s contributions extended to the entire UFC organization, making his impact in departments as varied as public relations, creative, live production, and broadcast. In short, anytime strong, credible copy about UFC was needed, Tom was the guy.

In addition to his own books and his invaluable contributions to UFC, Gerbasi’s work appeared in myriad publications, including The Ring Magazine, The Village Voice, The Independent, The Boston Herald, King, Uppercut, Women’s Boxing World, Boxing News, ESPN.com, and countless others.

Outside of combat sports, Gerbasi was an avowed family man, caring for his wife, daughter, and two young granddaughters daily. He played goalie in an organized soccer league on Sundays and ran numerous marathons in his spare time. He loved music and celebrated great cuisine.

To see a complete list of UFC athletes and fights enshrined in the UFC Hall of Fame, as well as details regarding the UFC Hall of Fame format, please visit UFCHOFFAQ. For additional information, please visit UFC.com.

After over a year of inactivity and uncertainty, Gervonta Davis looks set for a ring return this year, with plans in place for a fight later in the calendar against a man that he called out in late 2025.

Davis has not won a contest since June 2024, and the lightweight is now champion-in-recess with the WBA, but the sanctioning body is showing nothing to suggest that they will order a fight between the Baltimore-born bruiser and #1 contender, Floyd Schofield.

Instead, Davis called for a rematch with Isaac ‘Pitbull’ Cruz back in December, with the Mexican being one of just two men to have been defeated by Davis but not knocked out, after their closely fought 2021 battle.

Now, it seems as though PBC are planning to stage that clash and that early autumn is the target, with one close source naming ‘Pitbull’ as the ‘most likely opponent’, as per BoxingScene.

“While exercising caution on the timing, PBC is aiming for the legally troubled three-division champion Davis, 30-0-1 (28 KOs), to return to the ring by the early fall.

“It would be the Baltimore fighter’s first bout since his WBA lightweight title fight draw at New York’s Barclays Center versus Roach, who was deprived of a knockdown (and victory) by referee Steve Willis.

“Although De La Hoya on Friday strongly proposed unbeaten and WBA top-ranked contender Floyd Schofield for a Davis bout, another official more connected to the PBC situation said Mexico’s former 140lbs champion Isaac “Pitbull” Cruz is the most likely opponent at this hour.”

Should Davis-Cruz II take place, it could pave the way for Schofield to finally meet Lucas Bahdi for the vacant WBA lightweight title.