Ukraine war: Putin says West's sanctions fever wrecks European lives

In a speech to an economic forum in Vladivostok, he said Russia was coping with the West's economic "aggression".

But the Russian president warned the quality of life for Europeans was being sacrificed to sanctions while poorer countries were losing access to food.

He also said Europe was cheating poor countries out of Ukraine's grain.

For months Ukraine's sea ports were blockaded by Russian forces, but since exports resumed at the start of August Russia's leader asserted that only two grain ships had gone to Africa - which is not the case. He said he wanted to discuss revisiting the deal, in remarks rejected by Ukraine as groundless.

Russia launched its invasion on 24 February and now occupies around a fifth of Ukrainian territory. Six months on, it has been pushed back from areas around Kyiv and the north and now faces a Ukrainian counter-offensive in the south and east.

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