Russian President Vladimir Putin, speaking to the Valdai Discussion Club, said the West was playing a "dangerous, bloody and dirty" game over Ukraine, which Russian forces invaded in February. Putin said he believes the United States and its allies would ultimately have to talk to Russia to end the war Moscow started.

Putin also ruled out the option of using nuclear weapons in Ukraine and reiterated his unproven allegations that Ukraine intends to use a "dirty bomb."

He claimed the decade ahead is the most "dangerous" since the end of the Second World War.