Vladimir Putin has said he will meet Donald Trump and praised him for ‘changing his position’ when he ‘began to receive objective information’ – hours after Volodymyr Zelensky accused the US President of falling for Russian disinformation.

The Russian dictator welcomed Tuesday’s talks between Russian and American officials in Saudi Arabia, describing them as a ‘first step’ to restore relations with Washington.

‘I was briefed (on the talks). I rate them highly, there is a result,’ Putin said at a drone factory in Saint Petersburg, adding: ‘In my opinion, we made the first step to restore work in various areas of mutual interests’. He said that securing a resolution to the conflict is a priority for Russia, but added that his country must build trust with the United States in order to achieve this.

‘It is impossible to solve many issues, including the Ukrainian crisis, without increasing the level of trust between Russia and the United States,’ Putin said in the televised meeting.

While Trump earlier suggested a face-to-face meeting between Putin and himself could be held before the end of the month, the Russian President said he was not ready to say when talks might take place.

Speaking to reporters in Kyiv earlier today, President Zelensky criticised Washington’s thawing of relations with Moscow and pushed back on a number of unfounded claims made by the US president at a press conference last night.

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