Camille Naredo

In this pool photograph distributed by the Russian state agency Sputnik, Russia's President Vladimir Putin gives a speech at an expanded meeting of the Russian Defence Ministry Board at the National Defence Control Centre in Moscow on December 16, 2024. Grigory Sysoyev, AFP/File

In this pool photograph distributed by the Russian state agency Sputnik, Russia's President Vladimir Putin gives a speech at an expanded meeting of the Russian Defence Ministry Board at the National Defence Control Centre in Moscow on December 16, 2024. (Photo by Grigory SYSOYEV / POOL / AFP)

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RUSSIA

<div><span class="fr-img-caption fr-fic fr-dib" style="width:960px"><span class="fr-img-wrap"><img src="https://od2-image-api.abs-cbn.com/prod/editorImage/1756917294179AFP__20241216__36QH7BF__v1__Preview__RussiaPoliticsDefence.jpg" style="width:960px" class="fr-fic fr-dib" alt="In this pool photograph distributed by the Russian state agency Sputnik, Russia&#x27;s President Vladimir Putin gives a speech at an expanded meeting of the Russian Defence Ministry Board at the National Defence Control Centre in Moscow on December 16, 2024. Grigory Sysoyev, AFP/File"/><span class="fr-inner" style="text-align:left">In this pool photograph distributed by the Russian state agency Sputnik, Russia&#x27;s President Vladimir Putin gives a speech at an expanded meeting of the Russian Defense Ministry Board at the National Defense Control Centre in Moscow on December 16, 2024. <em>Grigory Sysoyev, AFP/File</em></span></span></span></div><p>KYIV, Ukraine -- 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 Kyiv&#x27;s allies gather in Paris to discuss security guarantees.</p><p>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.</p><p>Putin&#x27;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.</p><p>The Russian leader hailed his forces&#x27; progress, saying they were advancing on &quot;all fronts&quot; and had hobbled Ukraine&#x27;s army so much it could no longer mount an offensive.</p><p>&quot;Let&#x27;s see how the situation develops. If not, then we will have to resolve all our tasks militarily,&quot; Putin told reporters, including AFP, in Beijing, where he had earlier attended a grand military parade alongside China&#x27;s Xi Jinping and North Korea&#x27;s Kim Jong Un.</p><p>Zelensky was set to head to Paris, where he will hold talks with leaders of the &quot;coalition of the willing,&quot; 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.</p><div><a class="fr-green fr-strong" href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/news/world/2025/9/2/putin-tells-xi-china-russia-ties-are-at-unprecedented-level-1606">READ: Putin tells Xi China-Russia ties are at &#x27;unprecedented level&#x27;</a></div><div><a class="fr-green fr-strong" href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/news/world/2025/9/2/xi-and-putin-round-on-west-at-regional-summit-in-china-0041">READ: Xi and Putin round on West at regional summit in China</a></div><div><br/></div><div><strong>- &#x27;Aggressive goals&#x27; -</strong></div><p>Russia&#x27;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.</p><p>Russia claims to have annexed five Ukrainian regions -- Donetsk, Lugansk, Kherson and Zaporizhzhia, as well as the Crimean peninsula, which it seized in 2014.</p><p>&quot;In order for a durable peace, the new territorial realities that arose... must be recognized and formalized in accordance with international law,&quot; Lavrov said in remarks published by Moscow on Wednesday.</p><p>Who gets control of land captured by Russia in its offensive is a key sticking point in stalled peace talks.</p><p>Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andriy Sybiga blasted Russia for tabling &quot;old ultimatums&quot;.</p><p>&quot;Russia has not changed its aggressive goals and shows no signs of readiness for meaningful negotiations,&quot; he said, adding: &quot;It&#x27;s time to hit the Russian war machine with severe new sanctions and sober Moscow up.&quot;</p><p>Ukraine&#x27;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&#x27;s pro-European revolution in 2014.</p><div><br/></div><div><strong>- Frontline attacks -</strong></div><script data-wid="auto" type="text/javascript" src="https://content.viralize.tv/display/?zid=AAFz8gWM8iRADsJr&amp;cid=ABgCa4F63mrsdixN"></script><p>Ukraine has been calling for Putin to meet President Volodymyr Zelensky for face-to-face talks for months, saying it is the only way to break the deadlock over a possible peace deal.</p><p>Speaking in Beijing, the Kremlin chief again ruled out an immediate meeting and went on a long tirade questioning the Ukrainian leader&#x27;s legitimacy, referring to him as the &quot;current head of the Ukrainian administration&quot;.</p><p>Putin said he had invited Zelensky to come to Moscow if he wanted to speak.</p><p>&quot;Donald (Trump) asked me for such a meeting, I said: &#x27;Yes, it&#x27;s possible, let Zelensky come to Moscow&#x27;,&quot; Putin said.</p><p>Kyiv has dismissed the invitation as cynical.</p><p>&quot;Putin continues to mess around with everyone by making knowingly unacceptable proposals,&quot; Sybiga said, adding that at least seven countries had made genuine offers to host such a meeting.</p><p>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.</p><p>Russia has kept up its deadly attacks on Kyiv despite Trump&#x27;s pressure to end the three-and-a-half-year war.</p><p>Moscow launched more than 500 drones and missiles on Ukraine early on Wednesday, Kyiv&#x27;s air force said.</p><p>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.</p><div><strong>© Agence France-Presse</strong></div>

<p>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 Kyiv's allies gather in Paris to discuss security guarantees.</p>

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 Kyiv's allies gather in Paris to discuss security guarantees.

Putin vows not to back down in Ukraine

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Putin vows not to back down in Ukraine

Victoria Lukovenko with Vladimir Kurashov in Beijing,

Agence France-Presse

Published Sep 04, 2025 01:24 AM PHT

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