Russian President Vladimir Putin says he reached 'understandings' with US President Donald Trump over the end of the Ukraine war at their meeting in Alaska last month.

But he did not say whether he would agree to peace talks with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky brokered by Trump, who had apparently given Monday as a deadline for Putin's response.

Speaking during a summit in China, Putin continued to defend his decision to invade Ukraine, once again blaming the West for the war.

Following the Alaska meeting, US special envoy Steve Witkoff said Putin had agreed to security guarantees for Ukraine as part of a potential future peace deal, though Moscow has yet to confirm this.

Putin was speaking in Tianjin at the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation summit, where he met Xi Jinping and Narendra Modi.

He thanked the Chinese and Indian leaders for their support and their efforts to 'facilitate the resolution of the Ukrainian crisis'.

China and India are the biggest buyers of Russian crude oil, attracting criticism from the West that they are propping up the Russian economy which has been battered by the war effort.

In his speech, Putin also said that the understandings reached at his meeting with Trump in Alaska were 'I hope, moving in this direction, opening the way to peace in Ukraine'.

At the same time, he reiterated his view that 'this crisis wasn't triggered by Russia's attack on Ukraine, but was a result of a coup in Ukraine, which was supported and provoked by the West'.

He also attributed the war to 'the West's constant attempts to drag Ukraine into NATO'.

The Russian president has consistently opposed the idea of Ukraine joining the Western military alliance. But both this claim - and that the war was provoked - have been repeatedly rebuffed by Western allies.

It was in 2014 that Putin seized Crimea and Russian proxies grabbed part of eastern Ukraine. Years later, in February 2022, Putin then ordered Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

Putin's latest comments come days after Russia launched its second biggest aerial attack on Ukraine in the war.

French President Emmanuel Macron indicated that Trump set a Monday deadline for Putin to respond to the peace talks with Zelensky. If the Russian leader does not agree, 'it will show again President Putin has played President Trump', said Macron.

In an interview with CNN, Trump also noted he gave Putin 'a couple of weeks' before US action as part of their ongoing discussions.

Trump had previously asserted he could resolve the Ukraine war quickly.

Following his meeting with Putin, Trump dropped a demand for a ceasefire, advocating instead for a permanent peace deal.

He met Zelensky along with key European leaders visiting Washington, insisting there would be 'no going into NATO by Ukraine' as part of any agreement.

He hinted at security guarantees involving European nations as the 'first line of defence' without committing to sending US troops to Ukraine.

US Special Envoy Witkoff mentioned that Putin had agreed to security guarantees, suggesting that the US and Europe could potentially offer NATO-like security assurances to Ukraine.

Zelensky expects a security framework to be proposed soon, though Russia has labeled Western proposals as 'one-sided', accusing Kyiv of seeking provocations.

Despite ongoing attacks, Zelensky has rejected suggestions for a buffer zone with Russia, stating that Russia appears unprepared to engage genuinely in diplomatic talks.