US happy Putin wants to negotiate peace, otherwise would face 'big problem' — Trump

WASHINGTON, February 17.  Russian President Vladimir Putin's unwillingness to negotiate a settlement of the Ukrainian crisis would have been a "big problem" for Washington, but he wants peace, US leader Donald Trump said.

"No, I think he (Putin - TASS) wants to stop, that was my question to him, because if he was going to go on, that would have been a big problem for us, and that would have caused me a big problem," the US president told the White House press pool.

"I think he wants to end it, and they (the Russians - TASS) want to end it fast," Trump added.

"I think he wants to stop fighting. They have a big, powerful [military] machine, you understand that? And they defeated Hitler, and they defeated Napoleon. You know, they've been fighting a long time. They've done it before. But I think he'd like to stop fighting," the US head of state said.

He added that Vladimir Zelensky was also ready for talks on the settlement of the Ukrainian conflict.