Russia has tried to dismiss the Panama Papers revelations as part of a campaign to discredit Vladimir Putin.

The unprecedented leak of financial information exposes a network of offshore deals and loans worth around £2bn involving close friends and associates of the Russian president.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said: "The main target of this disinformation is our president, especially in the context of the upcoming parliamentary elections and in the context of a longer-term perspective - I mean presidential elections in two years.

"This Putinophobia abroad has reached such a point that it is in fact taboo to say something good about Russia, or about any actions by Russia or any Russian achievements.

"But it's a must to say bad things, a lot of bad things, and when there's nothing to say, it must be concocted. This is evident to us."

He insisted the files contained "nothing concrete and nothing new" about Mr Putin.

In Ukraine, opposition politicians have called for an impeachment investigation into President Petro Poroshenko after allegations that he used offshore companies to avoid tax.

The leaked papers appear to show he moved his confectionery business, Roshen, to the British Virgin Islands in August 2014, during a peak in fighting between Ukraine and pro-Russian separatists.

Mr Poroshenko has not commented publicly.

A senior official in the General Prosecutor's office said the leaked documents did not show Mr Poroshenko committing any crime.

Iceland's Prime Minister Sigmundur Gunnlaugsson is facing a vote of no confidence in parliament after documents from law firm Mossack Fonseca linked him and his wife to an offshore account in the British Virgin Islands.

A spokesman told the International Consortium Of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ): "The prime minister and his wife have adhered to Icelandic law, including declaring all assets, securities and income in Icelandic tax returns since 2008."

The family of Pakistani PM Nawaz Sharif has defended their ownership of offshore companies after they were named in the papers.

Three of Sharif's four children appear - Maryam, who has been tipped to be his political successor, Hasan and Hussain - with the records showing they owned London property through companies administered by Mossack Fonseca.

But Sharif's son Hussain told the country's largest private broadcaster Geo his family had done "nothing wrong".

"Those apartments are ours and those offshore companies are also ours," he said.

"There is nothing wrong with it and I have never concealed them, nor do I need to do that.

"It is according to British law and laws of other countries that it is a legal way to avoid unnecessary tax via offshore companies."