'Perfect' Putin claims he never made mistakes

Russian President Vladimir Putin has gone on record to claim that he never makes mistakes because that is how God built his life so that "he'd have nothing to regret".

Putin also dismissed the criticism against Russia's conduct over the Ukraine crisis, saying that a deterioration of relations with the west was not "our choice".

He said that economic sanctions were imposed on the country and, therefore, they had to respond with "retaliatory, protective measures," reported The Independent.

The statements came as the Russian President met Italy's Matteo Renzi at the Expo 2015 world fair in Milan to discuss the prospect of easing harsh economic sanctions imposed on his country by the west over the Ukraine conflict.

Renzi, along with other G7 leaders at the Bavaria summit, had pledged to impose sanctions on Russian trade if violence continued in the disputed Donbass region.