Putin blames US for Ukraine crisis and strained US-Russia ties.

Russian President Vladimir Putin berated the new US and EU ambassadors, blaming their countries for the deterioration in relations since Russia sent its armed forces into Ukraine last year. Putin told the US ambassador that US support for a revolution in Ukraine in 2014 had led to the current situation where Russia and Ukraine were in conflict. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said Moscow needed to maintain relations with Washington even though American supplies of weapons to Ukraine meant "we are really in a hot phase of the war".