Nuclear pact threat

In his long-delayed state-of-the-nation address on Tuesday, Mr Putin cast his country and Ukraine as victims of western double-dealing and said it is Russia, not Ukraine, fighting for its very existence.

RUSSIAN President Vladimir Putin has suspended Moscow's participation in the last remaining nuclear arms control pact with the US - announcing the move in a bitter speech where he made it clear he will not change his strategy in the war in Ukraine.

"We aren't fighting the Ukrainian people," he said in a speech days before the war's first anniversary on Friday. "The Ukrainian people have become hostages of the Kyiv regime and its western masters, which have effectively occupied the country."