Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Friday that Moscow’s offensive in Ukraine’s Kharkiv region aims to create a buffer zone but he has no plans to capture the city.

Speaking to reporters on Friday on a visit to Harbin, China, Mr Putin said that Moscow launched attacks in the Kharkiv region in response to the Ukrainian shelling of Russia’s Belgorod region.

“I have said publicly that if it continues we will be forced to create a security zone, a sanitary zone,” he said.

Mr Putin said Russian troops were “advancing daily in according to plan”.

He added that Russia has no plans to capture Kharkiv for now.