SAINT PETERSBURG, June 5, 2026 (BSS/AFP) - Russian President Vladimir Putin said Friday that the Ukraine war would end only once Russia had achieved its aims.

"Military actions will end some day, we assume. Without a doubt, they will end once we have achieved the goals we have set for ourselves," Putin told a flagship economic forum in Saint Petersburg.

Russia has demanded control of Ukraine's eastern Donbas region as well as sweeping political and military restrictions on Ukraine.