Putin thanks Trump for dedicating so much attention to Ukraine settlement

Russian President Vladimir Putin thanked his American counterpart, Donald Trump, for his attention to resolving the Ukrainian conflict, TASS reports.

Photo: flickr.com by The White House, https://creativecommons.org/public-domain/pdm/

Putin and Trump

"First of all, I would like to start by expressing my gratitude to the President of the United States, Mr. Trump, for dedicating so much attention to the settlement in Ukraine," Putin said.

The Russian leader made this statement during a press conference following negotiations with his Belarusian counterpart, Alexander Lukashenko.

Speaking about Kyiv's readiness for a ceasefire, Vladimir Putin stated that the negotiations in Saudi Arabia may "outwardly" appear as "a decision made by the Ukrainian side under American pressure." However, Putin is convinced that, in reality, Ukraine "must have been urgently requesting that from the Americans" based on the situation on the battlefield.

Earlier, Russian presidential aide Yuri Ushakov ruled out the possibility of a phone call between the American and Russian leaders on March 13.