Putin vows to carry on fighting in Ukraine, if peace deal not reached

Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Wednesday his country would carry on fighting in Ukraine if a peace deal could not be reached, as he wrapped up a visit to China.

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

Putin said he thought there was "light at the end of the tunnel", but promised to continue fighting and claimed his troops 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 when asked about the prospects for a deal.

The Kremlin chief, who again ruled out an immediate meeting with Volodymyr Zelensky, went on a long tirade questioning the Ukrainian leader's legitimacy.

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

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

A source told AFP in August that Zelensky had rejected an initiative to hold talks in Moscow.

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

"If it will be necessary to raise the level of delegations, we are ready for it," the Russian leader said. 

Moscow launched more than 500 drones on Ukraine early on Wednesday, and nine civilians were killed later in a shelling on a frontline town in eastern Ukraine.