Poroshenko told a meeting of Ukraine's top brass that he "had two very effective conversations with US President Donald Trump."
Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko said Wednesday he has had two "very effective" conversations with US counterpart Donald Trump and was confident of building strong relations with Washington.
Much of Ukraine's establishment had feared that Trump's unexpected rise to power and praise for Russian President Vladimir Putin would come at their country's expense.
Kiev and its allies accuse Moscow of sparking and backing a 34-month war in Ukraine's separatist east aimed at keeping the ex-Soviet republic under its thumb -- a charge that Russia denies.
Poroshenko told a meeting of Ukraine's top brass that he "had two very effective conversations with US President Donald Trump."
Poroshenko added he had a "very important meeting" with US Vice President Mike Pence on the sidelines of this weekend's Munich Security Conference.
He said he also spoke by phone with US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson.
"At the moment, I am happy how we are building bridges (with Washington), and how our dialogue is working out for the best with the US administration," Poroshenko said.
Trump had previously shown a certain lack of knowledge about Ukraine -- particularly Russia's annexation of Crimea in March 2014 -- and heaped repeated praise on Putin.
But Russia's media has in recent days scaled back fawning coverage of the US leader.
Some analysts believe that Putin is unsure about what precise international course the new US leader intends to take.
Ukraine's former pro-Russian president Viktor Yanukovych, who was toppled by a 2014 pro-European uprising, on Wednesday released a letter to Trump urging the US leader to "take urgent and exhaustive measures" to end the separatist conflict in eastern Ukraine.
