MOSCOW - Russian President Vladimir Putin said Monday that Russia and the United States should take the first step toward building mutual trust to resolve the Ukraine crisis and other pressing issues, suggesting possible cooperation in multiple fields.

During an interview with journalist of Russia-1 TV channel Pavel Zarubin, Putin said that business contacts between Russian and US companies are already underway.

Putin noted that his recent phone conversation with US President Donald Trump, along with discussions between Russian and US officials in Riyadh, touched on issues related to the Ukraine crisis. However, substantial negotiations on the crisis itself have yet to begin, and both sides have agreed to start work in this regard.

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Putin said that Europe needs to participate in negotiations about the Ukraine crisis. "Europe refused to negotiate with Russia before. If they want to come back, that's fine."

Commenting on Trump's recent order to impose a 25-percent tariff on all US imported steel and aluminum, Putin said that for many years, the US trade policy has been linked to sanctions, which Russia believes are illegal and detrimental to world trade and economy. This trade policy has caused losses to both Russia and those countries implementing the sanctions, he said.

Putin added that Russia can consider cooperating with US companies in the aluminum industry. US aluminum companies operating in Russia can be considerably profitable as their products can enter Russia's domestic market at an acceptable price. Russian-US cooperation on rare metals and energy is also worth considering, he said.

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Putin and Trump spoke on the phone on Feb 12. Trump said afterward in a post on Truth Social that he and Putin agreed "to stop the millions of deaths taking place" in the Ukraine conflict, stressing Washington and Moscow will "immediately" engage in direct negotiations aimed at ending the crisis. On Feb 18, Russian and US delegations held talks in Riyadh.