Russian President Vladimir Putin said the decision on pardoning Ukrainian pilot Nadiya Savchenko was "dictated by considerations of humanism" and, as he hoped, should help reduce tensions in the conflict zone in southeastern Ukraine.

"I would like to express the hope that such decisions dictated primarily by considerations of humanism should reduce confrontation in the well-known conflict zone and should help avoid such horrible and unwarranted losses," Putin said at a meeting with relatives of the Russian journalists killed in Ukraine.

The Rossiya-24 (VGTRK) television channel showed a fragment of Putin's meeting with the relatives of the deceased VGTRK journalists on Wednesday.

The president recalled that the relatives had met with Viktor Medvedchuk, the leader of the NGO Ukrainian Choice, on March 23, after which they asked the Russian leader to pardon Savchenko.

"I'd like to thank you for this position," Putin said.