India, June 29 -- Russian President Vladimir Putin flatly rejected a Ukrainian proposal for a mutual halt to long-range strikes on Sunday, vowing instead to press ahead until Russia has fully seized all four Ukrainian regions it illegally annexed in 2022, in his most uncompromising statement yet on the now four-year-old war.

Speaking to Russian state television in Moscow, Putin dismissed Ukraine's proposal as a transparent attempt to relieve military pressure on Kyiv's forces along the two sides' 1,250-kilometre front line. "It is clear why this proposal is being made, because our counter-strikes deep into Ukrainian territory are much stronger, have greater impact and are, frankly, more destructive," he said. "Given their catastrophic sh...