ISTANBUL 

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Friday that US President Donald Trump’s emotional approach to the Ukrainian crisis is “understandable,” while stressing that Russian President Vladimir Putin remains committed to a political and diplomatic settlement.

“We assume that the United States and President Trump personally maintain their political will and intention to continue their efforts to facilitate a Ukrainian settlement. Therefore, of course, President Trump is quite emotional, so to speak, about this issue. This is completely understandable,” Peskov said.

He underlined that Putin is “doing much” to achieve a peaceful resolution, but argued that Kyiv and European countries are creating obstacles by choosing “the path of confrontation.”

Trump earlier said that resolving the Ukraine crisis had initially seemed simple due to his good relations with Putin, but admitted it proved much more difficult. He added that Putin had “let him down.”

The remarks came after Trump reiterated his belief that the Ukraine crisis would eventually be resolved.