MOSCOW, April 16. /TASS/. Russian President Vladimir Putin has denied speculation that during the Minsk negotiations Ukrainian leader Petro Poroshenko offered Russia to take Donbas.

"No, nothing of the kind," Putin said on Thursday during the annual question and answer session officially known as Direct Line with Vladimir Putin.

"We discussed [during Minsk talks] the issues related to the recovery of economy and the social sphere of Donbas - there are many problems here," Putin said.

The statement came as an answer to a question on media reports on the alleged conversation between Russian President Vladimir Putin and his Ukrainian counterpart Petro Poroshenko during which the Ukrainian leader invited Moscow to "take Donbas."

The Forbes reported earlier that during the closed meeting with the board of the Russian Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs (RSPP), Putin told the business representatives that Poroshenko had invited him to "take Donbas" and make it part of Russia. The Russian leader’s answer was "no."