Vladimir Putin, the Russian president, said on Tuesday that Russia did not want a war with European powers but was ready to fight if Europe did want a direct conflict with Moscow. He accused European powers of hindering Donald Trump's attempts to end the war in Ukraine by putting forward proposals they knew would be "absolutely unacceptable" to Moscow so they could then accuse Russia of not wanting peace

• Russia ‘ready’ for war with Europe, Putin says as peace talks with US begin