Russian President Vladimir Putin says US is trying to 'remake the whole world'

Russian President Vladimir Putin has lashed out at the US accusing the country of endangering global security by imposing a "unilateral diktat" on the rest of the world.

In a 40-minute diatribe against the West that was reminiscent of the Cold War and underlined the depth of the rift between Moscow and the West, Putin also denied trying to rebuild the Soviet empire at the expense of Russia's neighbours. He also shifted blame for the Ukraine crisis onto the West.

"We did not start this," Putin told an informal group of experts on Russia that includes many Western specialists critical of him, warning that Washington was trying to "remake the whole world" based on its own interests.

"Statements that Russia is trying to reinstate some sort of empire, that it is encroaching on the sovereignty of its neighbours, are groundless," the former KGB spy declared in a speech at a ski resort in mountains above the Black Sea city of Sochi.

Listing a series of conflicts in which he faulted US actions, including Libya, Syria and Iraq, Putin asked whether Washington's policies had strengthened peace and democracy.

"No," he declared. "The unilateral diktat and the imposing of schemes [on others] have exactly the opposite effect."

Putin, 62, has stepped up anti-Western rhetoric since returning to the Kremlin as president in 2012, helping push up his popularity ratings since the annexation of Crimea from Ukraine in March.