Russia President Vladimir Putin on Thursday held a telephonic conversation with US President Donald Trump in which he made it clear that the Moscow will "not back down" on its goal of "eliminating" the root cause of the war in Ukraine, Al Jazeera reported

"Russia will not back down," Kremlin aide Yuri Ushakov told reporters after Putin's call with Trump. However, he added that Putin expressed "readiness" to "seek a political and negotiated solution to the conflict."

Putin emphasised that Russia seeks to achieve its goals in Ukraine and remove the "root causes" of the conflict, Ushakov said.