Russian President Vladimir Putin said Wednesday he would carry on fighting in Ukraine if a peace deal cannot be reached, as Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelensky arrived for a meeting with allies in Paris.

French President Emmanuel Macron, who will co-host the meeting of European leaders on Thursday, said that Europe was ready to offer Ukraine security guarantees as soon as a peace deal was agreed.

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 have 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 Russia

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