"There will be peace when we achieve our goals. They are not changing. I will remind you what we talked about -- the de-nazification and de-militarisation of Ukraine and its neutral status," he said during his press conference in Moscow.

When Putin launching his troops on Ukraine in February 2022, he requested the "de-nazification" of its pro-Western neighbour, a loosely defined term that survivors of the Holocaust have condemned.

He also demanded the "de-militarisation" of Ukraine, which was fending off Russia's assault.

"As for de-militarisation, they don't want to negotiate, so we are then forced to take other measures, including military measures," Putin said.

He also said that the sides "agreed on this during the talks in Istanbul" but that Ukraine subsequently disavowed the agreements.

"Either we agree or we need to resolve (the issue) by force," he said.

Putin also said that Russian had deployed more than 600,000 Russian military personnel in Ukraine.

"The front line is over 2,000 kilometres (1,242 miles) long. There are 617,000 people in the conflict zone," he said.

"Our armed forces are improving their position on almost the entire line of contact... The situation of our troops is improving throughout," Putin said during his press conference.