Ukrainian president-elect Petro Poroshenko on Friday welcomed the start of a dialogue with Russia following a meeting with Vladimir Putin in Normandy, saying it had "a good chance" of succeeding.
"The dialogue has begun, and that's a good thing," he said on Ukrainian television.
"A Russian representative will travel to Ukraine, and we will discuss with him the first steps towards a plan (to resolve) the situation... We have a good chance of implementing it."
The talks will take place on Sunday, he said.
Poroshenko, who will be sworn in as president on Saturday, said he expected Russia to recognise his election after a "short delay".
Poroshenko shook hands with Putin on the sidelines of an informal meeting in northern France earlier in the day, but he emphasised that the first top-level encounter since the start of the crisis had been tough.
"The talks weren't easy and the reaction when I raised the issue of Crimea wasn't pleasant," he said.
Russia carried out an annexation in March of Crimea, a peninsula on the northern shore of the Black Sea, after a three-week occupation and a referendum considered illegal by the international community.
Since mid-April Ukrainian forces have fought an armed uprising in the east of the country that has so far cost about 200 lives.
Russia has been accused by Ukraine and the West of offering clandestine support to the insurgents.
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