Russian President Vladimir Putin suggested during an economic forum that the "whole of Ukraine" belongs to his country, even though Russia only controls about a fifth of Ukrainian territory. He made the comments on June 20 at the St.

By Guy Faulconbridge and Vladimir Soldatkin ST PETERSBURG, Russia (Reuters) -Russian President Vladimir Putin quipped on Friday that in his view the whole of Ukraine was "ours" and cautioned that advancing Russian forces could take the Ukrainian city of Sumy as part of a bid to carve out a buffer zone along the border.

Russian President Vladimir Putin said 'all of Ukraine' belonged to Russia in a speech on June 20 at the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum, amid increasingly bullish official statements about Moscow's final territorial ambitions in Ukraine.