Russian President Vladimir Putin said Wednesday that his country must gain the trust of the United States before a solution can be found to his country's three-year war in Ukraine.
Mr. Putin told reporters in St. Petersburg that he was pleased with the outcome of high-level talks between American and Russian officials held in Saudi Arabia on Tuesday. He added that they were a "first step" toward improving strained relations between Moscow and Washington.
But he added that "it is impossible to resolve many issues, including the Ukrainian crisis, without increasing the level of trust between Russia and the United States."
During a televised speech, President Putin said he would like to hold a "high-level meeting" with US President Donald Trump, but for it to produce results, he said, preliminary preparations were needed.
The talks in Riyadh, led by US Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, were the first major talks between the two superpowers in more than three years since Russia's invasion of Ukraine and Western efforts led by Washington to arm Kiev to repel the attack.
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"I have been informed about the talks. I highly appreciate them and there are results," Mr Putin said, according to the Interfax news agency at a drone factory in St. Petersburg. "In my opinion, we took the first step to restore cooperation in various areas of common interest."
Neither Ukrainian nor European officials were at the table at the Riyadh talks, but the United States said they would be included in future negotiations to end Europe's deadliest conflict since World War II. VOA (A2 Televizion)
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