RUSSIA’S President Vladimir Putin told a television documentary that he hoped that nuclear weapons will not be required in Ukraine.

President Putin was speaking in an out-take shown today of a documentary by Rossiya-1’s Telegram channel to mark the Russian president’s 25 years in power.

Mr Putin told interviewer Pavel Zarubin: “There has been no need to use those nuclear weapons and I hope they will not be required,” to hit back against Ukrainian strikes on Russian territory.