Putin urges West to put pressure on Kiev to help solve crisis

Russia's President Vladimir Putin on Friday blamed the West and particularly the United States for the crisis in Ukraine and said the West should put pressure on Kiev to help resolve it.

He said Moscow was also ready to apply its influence in Ukraine's pro-Russian east to find a compromise and ensure peace agreements reached in February are fully implemented.

"Once political decisions kick in, there will be no weapons there (in east Ukraine)," Putin told an economic conference in the city of St Petersburg, when asked whether Russia was arming the separatists in east Ukraine.