Star Metro - Putin vows not to back down in Ukraine

Progress towards settling the three-and-a-half-year war appears to have stalled, despite a flurry of diplomatic efforts by US President Donald Trump, who met both his Russian and Ukrainian counterparts last month.

Putin's troops kept up their strikes across the country, 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" and had hobbled Ukraine's army so much it could no longer mount an offensive.

"Let's see how the situation develops. If not, then we will have to resolve all our tasks militarily," Putin told reporters, including AFP, in Beijing, where he had earlier attended a grand military parade alongside China's Xi Jinping and North Korea's Kim Jong Un.

Zelensky 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.

- 'Aggressive goals' -

Russia's Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said earlier Wednesday that Moscow was still seeking international recognition that parts of Ukraine annexed and occupied by its forces 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.

Who gets control of land captured by Russia in its offensive is a key sticking point in stalled peace talks.

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, adding: "It's time to hit the Russian war machine with severe new sanctions and sober Moscow up."

Ukraine's industrial east has been decimated by more than a decade of fighting that erupted when armed Russian-backed separatists began a push to break away from Kyiv following the country's pro-European revolution in 2014.

- Frontline attacks -

Ukraine has been calling for Putin to meet Zelensky for face-to-face talks for months, saying it is the only way to break the deadlock over a possible peace deal.

Speaking in Beijing, the Kremlin chief again ruled out an immediate meeting and went on a long tirade questioning the Ukrainian leader's legitimacy, referring to him as the "current head of the Ukrainian administration".

Putin said he had invited Zelensky to come to Moscow if he wanted to speak.

"Donald (Trump) asked me for such a meeting, I said: 'Yes, it's possible, let Zelensky come to Moscow'," Putin said.

Kyiv has dismissed the invitation as cynical.

"Putin continues to mess around with everyone by making knowingly unacceptable proposals," Sybiga said, adding that at least seven countries had made genuine offers to host such a meeting.

Putin said Russia was ready to send a more high-level delegation to peace talks with Ukraine than in previous meetings, though declined to state who that would be.

Russia has kept up its deadly attacks on Kyiv despite Trump's pressure to end the three-and-a-half-year war.

Moscow launched more than 500 drones and missiles on Ukraine early on Wednesday, Kyiv's air force said.

Artillery and drone strikes killed nine civilians in the frontline town of Kostiantynivka, which Russia is trying to capture, Donetsk region governor Vadym Filashkin said in a social media post.

A.Hill--SMC