Putin says Russia will achieve its Ukraine aims by force if Kyiv doesn't want peace

MOSCOW — Russian President Vladimir Putin said Ukraine was in no hurry for peace and if it did not want to resolve their conflict peacefully, Moscow would accomplish all its goals by force

MOSCOW — Russian President Vladimir Putin said Ukraine was in no hurry for peace and if it did not want to resolve their conflict peacefully, Moscow would accomplish all its goals by force.

Putin's remarks on Saturday, carried by state news agency TASS, followed a vast Russian drone and missile attack that prompted Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to say Russia was demonstrating its wish to continue the war while Kyiv wanted peace.

Zelenskyy is to meet U.S. President Donald Trump in Florida on Sunday to seek a resolution to the war Putin launched nearly four years ago with a full-scale invasion of Russia's smaller neighbour.

The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Putin's remarks.

Russian commanders told Putin during an inspection visit that Moscow's forces had captured the towns of Myrnohrad, Rodynske and Artemivka in Ukraine's eastern region of Donetsk, as well as Huliaipole and Stepnohirsk in the Zaporizhzhia region, the Kremlin said on the Telegram messaging app.