Russia's Putin says meeting with Ukraine's Poroshenko 'positive'

MILAN (Reuters) - Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Friday his meeting with Ukraine's President Petro Poroshenko and EU leaders had been "positive", but despite his upbeat comment, there was no sign of a decisive breakthrough in solving the crisis in Ukraine.

Putin and Poroshenko shook hands briefly before the talks with German Chancellor Angela Merkel, French President Francois Hollande, British Prime Minister David Cameron and European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso.

"It was good, it was positive," a smiling Putin told reporters after the discussions at the margins of a summit of Asian and European leaders in Milan.

Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi, who hosted the meeting, said afterwards that some progress had been made but that "a lot of differences" remained.

(Writing by James Mackenzie, Editing by Crispian Balmer)