Vladimir Putin says he has never made a mistake because God wanted him to be perfect

The Russian president clearly takes his 'no regrets' approach to life seriously..

A picture of Vladimir Putin, issued by the Kremlin, from a conference on 26 May Reuters

In a rare newspaper interview ahead of his state visit to Italy, Vladimir Putin has claimed he never makes mistakes because God “built his life so he’d have nothing to regret”.

The Russian president was due to meet Italy’s Matteo Renzi at the Expo 2015 world fair in Milan on Wednesday, where he is expected to discuss the prospect of easing economic sanctions imposed by the West over the Ukraine crisis.

Renzi was among the G7 leaders who pledged at the group’s Bavaria summit to step up restrictions on Russian trade if violence in the contested Donbass region continues.

But Mr Putin is nothing if not confident. Speaking to the editor in chief of  Luciano Fontana, he warned that it was “in the interests of the Italian people… to maintain friendly relations with Russia”.

He rejected any criticism of Russia’s conduct over the Ukraine crisis, and said the deterioration of relations with the West was “not our choice”. “It was not we who introduced restrictions on trade and economic activities. Rather, we were the target and we had to respond with retaliatory, protective measures.”