Sept. 11: Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin speaks at a meeting with a group of Western foreign policy experts in Sochi on Russia's Black Sea.

Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin warned the West on Thursday not to instigate an arms race in Europe, Reuters reported.

The Russian leader said there is no basis for a new Cold War, as Russia has no imperialist ambitions.

Putin told a meeting of officials and experts at a forum in the Black Sea resort of Sochi that Russia has, "no wish or grounds to encroach on the sovereignty of former Soviet republics."

Putin also said talk of sanctions against Russia goes against the script of the free market, Reuters reported.

"We don't have any ideological differences, no basis for a Cold War," he said. "On the contrary, we have a lot of common problems that we can only resolve together," including infectious diseases, terrorism and nonproliferation.