In a move showing that the end of the war in Ukraine remains elusive, the Kremlin said that the war in Ukraine could be ended in just one day, once Kiev declared surrender.

This new statement shows that Russia is determined to continue the war until the end, and will not be reluctant to stop fighting at the current border where Russian forces control parts of eastern and southern Ukraine.

The Russian presidential spokesman, the Kremlin, Dmitry Peskov, was quoted by AFP as saying that the side could

Peskov added that the end of the months-old war was possible if Kiev issued an order to "national units to lay down arms", referring to Ukrainian forces, as necessary.

Russia launched the war on 24 February last, under the slogan "Special military operation to protect Donbass", a province in eastern Ukraine where Moscow says Russian-speaking people there suffer from persecution by the Ukrainian authorities.

After intense rocket fire, Russian forces advanced towards the capital, Kiev, but failed to break into it, early last April, concentrating fighting in eastern and southern Ukraine.

Russian forces were able to establish control over the towns of Mariupol and Severudnetsk, and are on the verge of ending Ukraine's presence in the Lugansk region, which together with Donetsk region forms the eastern Donbass region of Ukraine, the country's industrial centre.

Russia's military strategy in recent weeks appeared to be moving towards controlling the largest area of land and strategic cities to end the military operation and force Kiev to negotiate.