Vladimir Putin accuses the West of rewriting history

Russian President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday accused Western countries of rewriting world history in an attempt to "weaken" Russia and undermine its sovereignty.

During a meeting tasked with memorialising Russia's World War II, Putin said Western countries' goals were to "disunite, deprive us of guidelines, and ultimately to weaken Russia and to influence its sovereignty, in fact, to undermine sovereignty."

He added that the "distortion" of history and "planting of myths" were responsible for the situation in Ukraine.

"Such a scenario, as we see, has already been tested in some countries, including Ukraine, and in a number of other states," he said.

He added that Russia's national identity "remains the continuity of generations, loyalty to traditions, high spiritual moral guidelines."