MOSCOW, December 19. /TASS/. In Donbass there are no foreign troops, but only self-defense forces consisting of local residents, Russian President Vladimir Putin told the customary year-end news conference in Moscow on Thursday.

Asked by a Ukrainian journalist about the need for removing all foreign troops and mercenaries from the east of Ukraine for a settlement of the conflict there Putin said "there are no foreign troops."

"There are people’s militias and local self-defense forces. They consist of local residents," Putin said.

As for mercenaries, Putin agreed that there were mercenaries in Donbass.

"There are French and German nationals fighting on both sides. Let us sort things out. But I must say once again they do not constitute the basis of these armed forces," Putin said.

Direct dialogue with Donbass

Kiev has to build direct dialogue with Donbass because attempts to resolve the issue by force will lead to nothing, Putin said.

"What is the main problem at the moment? The problem is that they are showing no willingness to resolve the issue through dialogue with people," Putin pointed out.

"It’s not right to try to create conditions to resolve the issue by using tanks, artillery and aircraft," he added. "Once the Ukrainian leadership abandons this erroneous approach and moves to building dialogue, it will become possible to resolve the issue," the Russian leader emphasized.

Putin went on to say that the Minsk Agreements highlighted the need to restore economic facilities in Donbass. "However, they just went and made a decision to cut these areas off from Ukraine," he noted. "They imposed a blockade. It was not Moscow that did it. The Kiev authorities imposed a blockade on the region," he explained.

The Russian leader admitted that some progress had been achieved in Donbass. "The situation is changing for the better, checkpoints [along the line of contact - TASS] have been opened, mine clearance activities are underway, but there is still much to be done to improve people’s lives," Putin said.

"And it can be done if one chooses to make agreements and build dialogue," he stressed. "But if strangling attempts continue, nothing is likely to be achieved," Putin said.

"There is a popular phrase: ‘Donbass always delivers’," Putin noted. "It is a brazen phrase but it shows the way people feel. People who live there are proud so it will hardly be possible to find a military solution to the issue," the Russian president concluded.