President Vladimir Putin has said Russia is willing to fight to achieve all its objectives if Ukraine does not agree to a deal.
He made the remarks in China after attending a huge military parade seen as a challenge to Donald Trump and the US-dominated world order.
The US president has tried to persuade Putin to end the war, but the Russian leader, while praising Trump’s “sincere desire”, has so far refused.
Visiting Kyiv, UK Defence Secretary John Healey told the BBC Trump had brought Putin to the table, but had not ruled out putting more pressure on him.
Countries like the UK, he said, were willing “to put extra economic pressure on Putin… and to give extra aid to Ukraine so they can keep in the fight”.
Trump pulled Putin out of international isolation last month when he hosted a meeting with him in Alaska.
He also tried to persuade Putin to meet Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky.
“I have never ruled out the possibility of such a meeting. But is there any point? Let’s see,” Putin said on Wednesday.
He added that any such meeting required preparation to yield results, and that Zelensky could always go to Moscow to see him – a “knowingly unacceptable” idea, Ukraine’s foreign minister was quick to point out.
Ukraine’s president has been highlighting Putin’s refusal to meet as a way of urging Trump to impose sanctions on Russia and boost Ukraine’s defences.
Russia launched a full-scale invasion of its neighbour in February 2022.
Asked by a Russian state TV journalists in Beijing whether the war in Ukraine could end soon, the Russian leader said “there is a certain light at the end of the tunnel”.
“It seems to me that if common sense prevails, it will be possible to agree on an acceptable solution to end this conflict,” Putin said. “If not, then we will have to resolve all our tasks militarily.”
But he went on to stress that Russia would not relinquish the Donbas region of eastern Ukraine his troops have seized.
The Russian leader repeated his demands for Ukraine not to seek to become a Nato member and to stop what he called discrimination against ethnic Russians – one of the allegations mentioned as a pretext for the invasion.
Putin hinted that security guarantees that Ukraine’s Western allies have promised after a future peace deal would not relate to the Donbas areas whose inhabitants had opted to join Russia – a reference to widely-criticised votes held in the aftermath of the annexation.
On Thursday, the French president will host a meeting of the so-called Coalition of the Willing – a grouping of allies of Ukraine.
A source at the Élysée, Macron’s office, has said the group want to secure American backing for a plan to press Russia to agree a ceasefire, with allies extending security guarantees to Ukraine immediately, rather than waiting for a peace deal.
President Trump pressed Putin for a ceasefire during their summit in Alaska last month, but then emerged from the talks saying the search for a peace deal would be a better way of ending the conflict.
Putin has rejected calls for a truce and his troops have intensified attacks on Ukrainian cities. More than Russian 500 drones and 24 cruise missiles were launched on Wednesday night alone.
The UK defence secretary told the BBC that, once a peace agreement was in place, the UK and more than 30 other nations would “help make the skies safe, to make the seas safe, and to secure the land”.
“We’re determined to make sure in the meantime we don’t jeopardise that peace by forgetting about the war, and that’s why we’re stepping up military aid to Ukraine,” John Healey said.
“It’s why we’ve passed today £1bn ($1.24bn) of seized Russian assets, recycled into military aid and kit to Ukraine. If you like, Putin’s dirty money returned with interest.”
By BBC News
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