Putin says Russia's ready to improve ties with the US

MOSCOW — Russia and the U.S. agree on a general approach to settling the Syrian crisis, President Vladimir Putin said Thursday, saying that Moscow stands ready to improve ties with Washington.

Putin also said that Russia will continue its air campaign in Syria until a political process starts, and lashed out at Turkey for trying to "lick the Americans in some of their private parts" by downing a Russian warplane.

Speaking with emphasis and gesturing energetically throughout a news conference that lasted more than three hours and was televised live, Putin also vowed that the murder of Russian opposition leader Boris Nemtsov will be solved and no one will be immune from prosecution.

Commenting on relations with Washington, Putin said that Russia supports a U.S.-drafted U.N. Security Council resolution on settling the Syrian crisis, presented by U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry during his visit to Moscow earlier this week.