Russian President Vladimir Putin has said that US President Donald Trump's proposals to end the war in Gaza offer "some light at the end of the tunnel", but stressed that any plan must lead to the creation of a Palestinian state alongside Israel.

Speaking at the Valdai International Discussion Club in Sochi on Thursday, Putin said Moscow was ready to support Trump's initiative "if it results in a two-state solution".

He cautioned, however, that "Western unilateral diplomacy, which ignores the history, traditions, identity and culture of the peoples living there, will not bring peace".

Putin said placing Gaza under an international administration, as Trump has suggested, raised questions about how long such an arrangement would last.

He added that a preferable option would be handing control of the territory to Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas.

The Russian president also welcomed Trump's proposal to free all hostages held in Gaza in exchange for the release of Palestinians in Israeli prisons, calling it an idea worth supporting.

But he underlined the importance of understanding "how Palestinians themselves view these initiatives".

Putin also touched on a range of other issues.

He said Russia seeks a "full-scale restoration" of relations with the United States despite differences, insisted he was "not an emperor but an elected president", and reiterated that Moscow has enough forces to continue its war in Ukraine.

Dismissing Trump's remark that Russia is a "paper tiger", Putin quipped: "Are we a paper tiger? Then what is NATO in this case?"

He further warned that Western efforts to inflict a "strategic defeat" on Russia would ultimately fail.