Russian President Vladimir Putin and European Council President Charles Michel discussed the current state of bilateral ties and dialogue between Moscow and Brussels during a phone conversation on Monday.

File photo: Vladimir Putin(R) and Charles Michel(L)

The phone call was made ahead of a European Council discussion of problems in relations between Russia and the European Union (EU) on Thursday and Friday.

According to a Kremlin statement, Putin told Michel that the current state of Russian-EU ties is unsatisfactory, which was caused by the "non-constructive, sometimes confrontational" stance of the EU.

The Russian side underscored its readiness to restore a normal, depoliticized format of interaction with the EU, if Brussels shows such interest as well.

Putin and Michel also discussed combating the pandemic, particularly the possibility of using Russia's Sputnik V vaccine.

They touched upon the political settlement of the internal Ukrainian conflict and the situation in Belarus among other issues.