Here are some more details from our news desk on Putin's remarks to Russian state TV today:
Russian President Vladimir Putin says a war with Ukraine is "unlikely" and he hopes "it will never happen."
Putin, in an interview with Russian state television broadcast on February 23, called such a war "an apocalyptic scenario."
Ukraine, the United States, NATO, and many EU governments have long said that Russia has provided arms, military hardware, and troops to pro-Russian separatists fighting the Ukrainian government in eastern Ukraine.
Putin again rejected those charges, and said it was bad for Kyiv to blame Russia for Ukrainian forces' defeat in the town of Debaltseve.
Putin added that he thinks he "understands" and "generally trusts" German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Francois Hollande.
He said he maintains contact with Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko and believes that the Minsk cease-fire agreement will be adhered to and that the situation in eastern Ukraine "will gradually return to normal."
(With reporting by Reuters and Interfax)
!!! BREAKING !!!
Russian President Vladimir Putin says that war with neighboring Ukraine is "unlikely" and he hopes it will never happen. Putin also said he sees no need for another meeting with the leaders of France, Germany, and Ukraine about the crisis in eastern Ukraine. (Reuters/Russian state TV)
Another update from our news desk:
Ukraine's state energy company says Russia's Gazprom has not delivered the full amount of gas Kyiv paid for in advance.
Naftohaz press secretary Alena Osmolovskaya said the Ukrainian company prepaid for some 114 million cubic meters of gas but received only 47 million cubic meters.
Osmolovskaya said Gazprom's failure to deliver the full amount of gas represents a violation of the three-party agreement reached between Russian Energy Minister Aleksandr Novak, Ukrainian Energy Minister Yuriy Prodan, and European Energy Commissioner Guenther Oettinger in Brussels on October 30.
Nafothaz said that agreement is a legally binding protocol.
Naftohaz said it sent a note to Gazprom demanding an explanation for the shortage of gas shipments but there was no response from the energy company.
(Reuters, TASS, Interfax)