Kremlin - Savchenko's release won't accelerate warming in EU-Russia ties

Ukrainian servicewoman Nadiya Savchenko talks to the media upon her arrival at Boryspil International airport outside Kiev, Ukraine, May 25, 2016. REUTERS/Gleb Garanich

MOSCOW (Reuters) - President Vladimir Putin has consistently expressed his willingness to improve ties with the European Union, the Kremlin said on Thursday, but the release of Ukrainian Nadiya Savchenko from a Russian jail is unlikely to make this task easier.

Savchenko's handover on Wednesday, in return for two Russian prisoners, had been demanded by the West and was cast as a humanitarian gesture by Putin a few weeks before the European Union decides whether to extend sanctions against Russia imposed over its support for rebels in east Ukraine.