BUDAPEST, Hungary
Russian President Vladimir Putin has said any military assistance to Ukraine will just increase the number of victims in the country.
His remark came in a joint press conference with Viktor Orban, the prime minister of Hungary, following their meeting in the capital, Budapest on Tuesday.
Putin said the crisis had softened and clashes decreased following the Minsk agreement reached between Ukraine and pro-Russian separatists in Belarus in September 2014.
Asked by a reporter whether the U.S. would provide weaponry aid to Ukraine, Putin said Moscow had known the weapons were being carried to Ukraine.
"Whoever gives military aid to Ukraine, this will just raise the number of victims there and this issue cannot be solved militarily," Putin said.
Fighting between government forces and pro-Russian separatists broke out in Ukraine's Donbass region in April 2014.
In September and December 2014, both sides agreed to two cease-fire agreements, which lasted until Jan. 12, when fighting broke out throughout the region.
Since the beginning of the conflict, an estimated 5,665 people have been killed and 13,961 others have been injured in eastern Ukraine, according to the UN.
