MOSCOW: Russian President Vladimir Putin and US President Donald Trump could meet as early as this month, although a face-to-face meeting will take time to prepare, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Wednesday, according to Russian news agencies.

Peskov said the US-Russia talks held on Tuesday in Riyadh were a “very, very important step” toward reaching a settlement on the Ukraine war, nearing its third year.

“In order to carry out, figuratively speaking, resuscitation measures, diplomats will now begin to work in light of the agreement (Russian Foreign Minister Sergei) Lavrov reached yesterday with (US Secretary of State Marco) Rubio,” Peskov was quoted by state media as saying.

“But this is the first step...Naturally, it’s impossible to fix everything in one day or a week. There is a long way to go,” he added.

The talks in Riyadh were the first time US and Russian officials met to discuss ways to halt the deadliest conflict in Europe since World War Two. No Ukrainian or European officials were invited. Kyiv has said it will not accept any deal imposed without its consent.

Putin thanked the Saudi leadership, King Salman and Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, for creating a good atmosphere for holding the talks.

The Russian president said he rated the bilateral talks in Saudi Arabia “highly,” describing them as a “first step” to restoring relations with Washington.

“In my opinion, we made the first step to restore work in various areas of mutual interests,” he told journalists while visiting a drone manufacturing plant in his native Saint Petersburg.

He added that Russia and the US needed to “trust” each other if talks were to be successful.

“It is impossible to solve many issues, including the Ukrainian crisis, without increasing the level of trust between Russia and the United States,” he said.

* With Reuters and AFP