Russian President Vladimir Putin has said 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.
President 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," Mr 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.
Mr Putin said he had invited Mr 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 President Zelensky had rejected an initiative to hold talks in Moscow.
President 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.
Putin flaunting his 'impunity' with fresh strikes - Zelensky
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has said Russian President Vladimir Putin was demonstrating his "impunity" with fresh strikes on Ukraine.
"Putin is showing his impunity. And this undoubtedly requires a response from the world. It is only due to the lack of sufficient pressure, primarily on Russia's war economy, that this aggression continues," Mr Zelensky said ahead of meetings with officials from Baltic and Nordic countries in Denmark.
It comes after Ukrainian authorities said that Russia launched a sweeping overnight air attack on Ukraine that injured at least four railway workers and damaged critical infrastructure.
In a post on X, he said: "Another massive attack - a total of 526 means of destruction, including more than 500 attack drones and 24 missiles.
"The main targets were civilian infrastructure, particularly energy facilities, a transportation hub, even a garage cooperative, and, as has already become routine for the Russians, residential areas."
All the necessary emergency services, energy and railway workers are currently working to eliminate the consequences of the Russian strike. Another massive attack – a total of 526 means of destruction, including more than 500 attack drones and 24 missiles. The main targets were… pic.twitter.com/HlPhz0v5ZO
— Volodymyr Zelenskyy / Володимир Зеленський (@ZelenskyyUa) September 3, 2025
The attacks came as Russian President Vladimir Putin attended a military parade in Beijing, to mark the end of World War II, at which Chinese President Xi Jinping warned that the world faced a choice between peace and war.
Air raid alerts sounded for hours across Ukraine, with explosions heard in nine of its 24 regions, from Kyiv to Lviv and Volyn in the west, Ukrainian officials and media said.
Ukraine's air force said it downed 430 of 502 drones and 21 of 24 missiles launched by Russia overnight, adding that three missiles and 69 drones struck 14 locations.
Ukraine's western neighbour and NATO member Poland activated its own and allied aircraft to ensure safety, its armed forces command said.
Four railway workers in Ukraine's central Kirovohrad region were in hospital after the Russian attack, the state-owned railway said on messaging app Telegram, flagging delays of up to seven hours to scores of services following damaged facilities.
The railway workers were among five injured in the major rail hub of Znamianka, where 28 houses were also damaged, Ukraine's emergency services said on Telegram.
In northern Chernihiv, the attack cut power to 30,000 consumers and damaged critical civilian infrastructure, Governor Viacheslav Chaus said.
Public transport in the western city of Khmelnytskyi faced "significant schedule disruptions" after the attack, its administration said on Telegram, with the regional governor flagging fires and damage to residential buildings among others.
Firefighters in the Ivano-Frankivsk region were battling flames that engulfed 9,000 square meters of storage facilities, emergency services said.
There was no immediate comment from Russia. Both sides deny targeting civilians in their strikes in the war Russia launched with a full-scale invasion on Ukraine in February 2022.
Meanwhile, Russia's Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said his country is still seeking international recognition that parts of Ukraine annexed and occupied by its forces belong to Moscow as part of any peace deal.
Ukraine has said it will never accept Russian control over any of its territory and has vowed to recover land seized by Moscow.
Russia claims to have annexed five Ukrainian regions - Donetsk, Lugansk, Kherson and Zaporizhzhia, as well as the Crimean peninsula, which it seized in 2014.
"In order for a durable peace, the new territorial realities that arose... must be recognised and formalised in accordance with international law," Mr Lavrov said in remarks published by Moscow.
Who gets control of land captured by Russia in its offensive is a key sticking point in stalled peace talks between the two sides.
Ukraine wants a ceasefire first before discussing territory, but Russia has refused to halt its offensive until a full deal is reached.
Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andriy Sybiga said in response that Russia was responding to peace efforts led by US President Donald Trump with "old ultimatums".
"Russia has not changed its aggressive goals and shows no signs of readiness for meaningful negotiations," he said, adding: "It's time to hit the Russian war machine with severe new sanctions and sober Moscow up."
Turkey, which has hosted three rounds of direct Russia-Ukraine talks, said last week that Russian President Vladimir Putin had offered to freeze the front lines in the southern Kherson and Zaporizhzhia regions if Ukraine completely gave up the Donetsk region.
