'The sooner, the better': Vladimir Putin wants to end war in Ukraine

Moscow's military chief has said Russian forces are now concentrated on wresting control of the eastern Donetsk region where the battered city of Bakhmut has become an epicentre of fighting.

New Delhi, Dec 23: President Vladimir Putin said on Thursday that Russia wants an end to the war in Ukraine the sooner the better.

It came as President Vladimir Putin insisted Russia was aiming for a speedy end to the fighting.

"Our goal is... to end this conflict. We are striving for this", Putin was quoted saying by AFP. "We will seek to make sure that it all ends, and the sooner, the better".

"All conflicts end, some way or another, with talks... The faster our adversaries (in Kyiv) understand that, the better it will be," Putin said.

Moscow's military chief has said Russian forces are now concentrated on wresting control of the eastern Donetsk region where the battered city of Bakhmut has become an epicentre of fighting.

Officials in Moscow have repeatedly said in recent months that they have not ruled out talks with Ukraine.

They blamed the closure of diplomatic channels on President Zelensky, who has said he will not negotiate while Putin is in power.

The Ukrainian leader has returned from a historic trip to Washington, where he told Congress his country was "alive and kicking" and supporting it was an investment in global security.

He enjoyed a hero's welcome on the lightning trip on Wednesday, in which US President Joe Biden committed nearly $1.8 billion in military supplies including, for the first time, the Patriot missile defence system.

Putin warned this could further draw out the conflict, saying: "Those who are confronting us say this is a defensive weapon... There will always be an antidote."

"The people who are doing this are doing it in vain. It's just prolonging the conflict, that's all," he told reporters.

Earlier, the Kremlin said Biden and Zelensky were not listening to "Russia's concerns".

"Not a single word was heard warning Zelensky against the continued shelling of residential buildings in towns and villages in Donbas and there were no real calls for peace," spokesman Dmitry Peskov said.

"This suggests that the United States is continuing its line of de facto fighting an indirect war with Russia to the last Ukrainian," he added.

with agency inputs