Putin offers more talks with West to defuse Ukraine tensions

Russian President Vladimir Putin said Tuesday that the U.S. and its allies have ignored Russia’s top security demands but added that Moscow remains open to more talks with the West on easing soaring tensions over Ukraine.

Putin argued that it’s possible to negotiate an end to the standoff if interests of all parties, including Russia’s security concerns, are taken into account.

“I hope that we will eventually find a solution, although we realize that it’s not going to be easy,” Putin said.

He deplored the Western refusal to consider the Kremlin’s demands for guarantees that NATO won’t expand to Ukraine, won’t deploy weapons near the Russian border and will roll back its forces from Eastern Europe.