Russian President Vladimir Putin on Wednesday vowed to carry on fighting in Ukraine if a peace deal cannot be reached, striking a defiant tone a day before Kiev's allies gather in Paris to discuss security guarantees.
Putin's troops kept up their strikes across Ukraine, firing more than 500 drones and missiles at Ukraine overnight and killing nine in attacks on a frontline town.
The Russian leader hailed his forces' progress, saying they were advancing on "all fronts."
"Let's see how the situation develops. If not, then we will have to resolve all our tasks militarily," Putin told reporters in Beijing, where he had earlier attended a grand military parade alongside China's Xi Jinping and North Korea's Kim Jong Un.
'Coalition of the willing'
Volodymyr Zelenskyy was set to head to Paris, where he will hold talks with leaders of the "coalition of the willing," a French-British led initiative seeking to put together security guarantees and a peacekeeping force to protect Ukraine in the event a peace deal can be reached.
Russia's Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said earlier on Wednesday that Moscow was still seeking international recognition that parts of Ukraine belong to Moscow.
Russia claims to have annexed five Ukrainian regions – Donetsk, Lugansk, Kherson and Zaporizhzhia, as well as the Crimean peninsula, which it seized in 2014.
"In order for a durable peace, the new territorial realities that arose... must be recognised and formalised in accordance with international law," Lavrov said in remarks published by Moscow on Wednesday.
'Aggressive goals'
Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andriy Sybiga blasted Russia for tabling "old ultimatums."
"Russia has not changed its aggressive goals and shows no signs of readiness for meaningful negotiations," he said.
Ukraine has been calling for Putin to meet Zelenskyy for face-to-face talks for months, saying it is the only way to break the deadlock over a possible peace deal.
Putin said he had invited Zelenskyy to come to Moscow if he wanted to speak.
Moscow invitation to Zelenskyy
"Donald (Trump) asked me for such a meeting, I said: 'Yes, it's possible, let Zelenskyy come to Moscow'," Putin said. Kiev has dismissed the invitation as cynical.
