Russia is ready for negotiations and a peaceful settlement of the Ukraine conflict, however the ball is now with Kiev’s Western backers, President Vladimir Putin has said.

Ukraine and several west European countries rejected US President Donald Trump's roadmap, which Moscow said broadly reflected agreements reached during talks in Anchorage, to resolve the conflict. The roadmap included Ukraine abandoning its NATO aspirations and dropping territorial claims.

At his end-of-year live Q&A session on Friday, Putin praised Trump’s “serious and sincere efforts” to end the conflict and dismissed claims that Russia rejects his peace proposal as “incorrect and baseless.”

“At our meeting with President Trump in Anchorage, we reconciled positions and largely agreed on his proposals. Therefore, to say that we reject anything is absolutely incorrect and has no basis,” Putin asserted. “We were asked to make certain compromises. When I arrived in Anchorage, I said these would be difficult decisions for us, but we agreed [to them].”

The president stressed that “the ball is entirely in the court of our Western opponents – above all the leaders of the Kiev regime and their European sponsors.”

We are ready both for negotiations and for ending the conflict through peaceful means.

Russian officials have said Kiev’s Western backers are blocking peace efforts by adding clauses to Trump’s roadmap that Moscow considers “unacceptable.” Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has accused Western Europe of exploiting the Ukraine conflict “to scheme against the US and all those who seek a just settlement.”

While the Kremlin has criticized “megaphone diplomacy” and kept details of the peace process under wraps, media reports say a Russian delegation is expected in Florida this week for another round of negotiations.