annexation

Since the 2014 annexation of Crimea, Putin had been shunted to the fringes of summit group photos.

Hours earlier, Smotrich - an ultranationalist leader and settler who has control over planning in the West Bank - told a news conference in Jerusalem that "the time has come" for annexation.

He later became secretary of Ukraine's National Security and Defence Council, during a period when pro-Russian separatists began fighting in eastern Ukraine - and when Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered the annexation of the Crimea peninsula.

The broadcaster also makes explicit false claims, such as portraying Russia's annexation of Crimea in 2014 as a peaceful "reunification", denying clear evidence of military involvement.

It also alleged that the approval constituted "official Israeli involvement in the crimes of settlement, annexation, genocide, and forcible displacement" – accusations that Israel has long rejected.