Russian President Vladimir Putin suggested during an economic forum that the "whole of Ukraine" belongs to his country, even though Russia only controls about a fifth of Ukrainian territory.

Russian President Vladimir Putin said 'all of Ukraine' belonged to Russia in a speech on June 20 at the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum, amid increasingly bullish official statements about Moscow's final territorial ambitions in Ukraine.

By Guy Faulconbridge and Vladimir Soldatkin ST PETERSBURG, Russia (Reuters) -Russian President Vladimir Putin quipped on Friday that in his view the whole of Ukraine was "ours" and cautioned that advancing Russian forces could take the Ukrainian city of Sumy as part of a bid to carve out a buffer zone along the border.

Russian President Vladimir Putin said he was not seeking to be a mediator between Iran and Israel, and was only suggesting ideas for how the countries could resolve the escalating crisis.

President Vladimir Putin says he has secured Israel’s pledge to safeguard Russian personnel at Iran’s Russia-built nuclear power plant and that he has reached out to both sides to try to end the week-old war.

Russia has repeatedly told Israel that there is no evidence Iran is aiming to get nuclear weapons, Sky News Arabia on Saturday quoted Russian President Vladimir Putin as saying in an interview.