Putin also said missiles would be targeted at Ukraine if the United States is allowed to have bases there, the Novosti news agency reported. He was speaking at his last annual news conference as president.

"We will be compelled to aim our missiles at facilities that we consider a threat to our national security, and I am putting this plainly now so that the blame for this is not shifted later," Putin said.

U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice called Putin's statements about Ukraine "unhelpful" and "reprehensible" during testimony before a Senate committee in Washington, the Financial Times reported.