Russian President Vladimir Putin insisted on Saturday that his country was always ready for negotiations to find a just settlement for the conflict between Russia and Ukraine.

Russia welcomes "the desire of the American side, President [Donald] Trump, our Chinese friends, the president of the People's Republic of China [Xi Jinping], the BRICS countries, all supporters of a fair, peaceful settlement of the Ukrainian crisis," Putin sadi at a meeting with Chief of the General Staff of the Russian Armed Forces Valery Gerasimov.

Previously, Putin declared an Easter ceasefire and instructed the military to stop all operations for 30 hours.