President Vladimir Putin has said Russia will achieve all its objectives by force if Ukraine does not agree to a deal. "It seems to me that if common sense prevails, it will be possible to agree on an acceptable solution to end this conflict," Putin said. "If not, then we will have to resolve all our tasks militarily."

Russia has no plans to discuss any potential foreign military deployment in Ukraine in any format, calling it "unacceptable", foreign ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova told reporters on Thursday. She was commenting on remarks by European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen on plans to send European troops to Ukraine,

Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Tuesday that Moscow had never opposed Ukraine's potential membership of the European Union, and that he thought it was possible to find a consensus on ensuring the security of both Russia and Ukraine.