Putin says Alaska summit has opened a pathway to peace in Ukraine

He also said a sustainable peace deal with Ukraine hinges on addressing the expansion of NATO in Eastern Europe.

Mr Putin told reporters that he had discussed the outcome of the Alaska summit with Chinese President Xi Jinping as the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation forum gets underway in Tianjin, China.

The forum brings together the Russian, Chinese, and Indian leaders, as well as those of Iran, Pakistan, Belarus, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan, to discuss regional security, politics, and economics.

Mr Putin said: "In this regard, we highly appreciate the efforts and proposals from China and India aimed at facilitating the resolution of the Ukrainian crisis.

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"I would also note that the understandings reached at the recent Russia-US meeting in Alaska, I hope, also contribute toward this goal."

The Russian leader went on to reiterate his claim that the eastward expansion of NATO has played a role in the invasion of Ukraine.

He said that the West's attempts to bring Ukraine into NATO pose "a direct threat to Russian security," claiming that the war did not begin with an "invasion" but as a result of a coup d'état in Kyiv supported by Ukraine's western allies.

"In order for a Ukrainian settlement to be sustainable and long-term, the root causes of the crisis, which I have just mentioned and which I have repeatedly mentioned before, must be eliminated," Mr Putin said.

His comments come as the head of the Ukrainian Police accuses Russia of murdering the former parliamentary speaker.

Andriy Parubiy was shot several times in the city of Lviv on Saturday, and a suspect was arrested late on Sunday.

"We know that this crime was not accidental. There is a Russian involvement. 

"Everyone will be held accountable before the law," police chief Ivan Vyhivskyi said on Facebook.