(MENAFN) The Kremlin stated on Tuesday that it believes US President Donald Trump maintains the “political will” to help advance a resolution to the conflict in Ukraine.

“We continue to assume that President Trump retains the political will to facilitate the transition of the Ukrainian settlement to the channel of peaceful and political negotiations,” Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov told reporters during a briefing.

Peskov described the broader diplomatic dialogue between Russia and the US as “subdued,” attributing it to the “great inertia” in bilateral relations. However, he noted that interactions at the heads-of-state level are “slightly different,” adding that Trump’s personal relationship with Russian President Vladimir Putin is “more lively.”

When asked about the possibility of a phone conversation between Trump and Putin later in the day, coinciding with Putin’s 73rd birthday, Peskov declined to provide details, stating, “I won't announce anything. We'll let you know once we've made the contacts.”

On a separate matter, Peskov described a phone call earlier in the day between Putin and Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev as “very important,” marking their first direct conversation since December of last year. According to a statement from Azerbaijan’s presidency, Aliyev congratulated Putin on his birthday, and the two leaders discussed the current state and future prospects of Azerbaijan-Russia relations.

Peskov previously noted that ties between Baku and Moscow had entered a “difficult period,” particularly following the crash of an Azerbaijan Airlines (AZAL) flight in Kazakhstan last December, which killed 38 of the 67 passengers and crew. Putin had called Aliyev three days after the accident to offer condolences and apologize for the crash occurring in Russian airspace.

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