Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Friday, May 23 he was upbeat on the prospects for resolving the crisis in Ukraine and that doing so would help improve relations with the United States, Reuters said.

"I'm an optimist. I am not losing faith that the situation in Ukraine will at some point become normal and we will find the inner strength to normalize relations (with the United States)," Putin told the St Petersburg International Economic Forum.

He also said that Russia did not want to isolate itself from the rest of the world and that it wanted to work with the United States on many projects.

"We are not planning any self-isolation," Putin said. "We hope that common sense ... will prompt our European and U.S. partners to work with Russia."