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French President Francois Hollande's brief visit to Russia will help settle many international problems, Russian President Vladimir Putin said Saturday.
"Current problems are complicated, but ... I am sure that your visit today, even if so short a working visit, will no doubt favor the settlement of many problems," Putin said.
Putin said that the visit will contribute to the peaceful settlement of the Ukraine crisis under the framework of the Normandy dialogue, which was held in France in June.
For his part, Hollande expressed confidence that Russia and France could overcome "obstacles" in bilateral relations.
"I think that at some point we need to get rid of these obstacles and walls that separate us, and I think we can do it," RIA Novosti news agency quoted Hollande as saying.
The meeting between the two leaders took place at the governmental airport Vnukovo-2 in Moscow as Hollande made a stopover on his way back to Paris after his trip to Kazakhstan.
The French president earlier on Saturday also held talks with Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko over telephone.
The two sides agreed to make joint efforts to peacefully settle the Ukraine crisis and ensure the implementation of the Minsk agreements, including the immediate resolution of humanitarian problems in Donetsk and Lugansk regions, according to the Ukrainian presidential press service.
Poroshenko on Thursday ordered the military forces to hold the so-called "day of silence" in eastern regions starting from Tuesday, which was prescribed in the Minsk peace protocol as temporary suspension of hostilities between Ukrainian forces and pro-independence insurgents. Enditem
