Putin says relations with Ukraine will improve 'sooner or later'

Russian President Vladimir Putin speaks during his annual end-of-year news conference in Moscow, Russia, December 23, 2016. REUTERS/Sergei Karpukhin

MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Friday he was confident that Moscow's relations with Ukraine would normalise "sooner or later".

Speaking at his annual end-of-year news conference, Putin said a bridge under construction between Russia and Crimea, which Moscow annexed from Ukraine in 2014, would help develop commercial and humanitarian links between the two countries once relations improved.