Putin says Russia "knows how it will end" in Ukraine but will not announce war goals publicly

Russian President Vladimir Putin said Moscow already knew how the war in Ukraine would end but would not make public statements on the outcome, state news agency TASS reported on April 21.

The remarks, delivered at a domestic meeting with municipal officials, marked Putin's latest attempt to project confidence in Russian war aims without specifying the terms under which Moscow would be willing to end the conflict.

"Combat operations are always an extremely complex and dangerous matter," Putin said during a meeting with municipal representatives.

"We know how it will all end, but we will not make any public statements on this score, but will simply implement and strive for the goals that we have set for ourselves and implement the tasks facing us."

Putin added that authorities in Kyiv were already considering how they would need to "frame" the situation in light of what he described as Russia's future victory.

The war in Ukraine, now in its fourth year since the February 2022 invasion, has continued alongside the US-Israeli war on Iran that began on February 28 this year. Moscow has emerged as one of Tehran's most vocal international backers since that conflict began.

Putin's comments came as a Russian sabotage operations across Europe recorded a near-quadrupling in 2024, according to research published last year by the International Institute for Strategic Studies.

Concerns about the resilience of European critical infrastructure are due to be addressed at the inaugural IISS Stockholm Civil Defence Forum on April 21 and 22.