The Kremlin says that Russian President Vladimir Putin has met with the new head of U.S. oil company ExxonMobil.

Putin's spokesman, Dmitry Peskov, told reporters on March 10 that Putin met with ExxonMobil CEO Darren Woods the previous day.

"This is a very big company and it is a major investor. This is why it receives special treatment," Peskov said.

He said Russian Energy Minister Aleksandr Novak and Igor Sechin, the head of state oil giant Rosneft, attended the meeting.

Woods' predecessor as CEO of ExxonMobil, Rex Tillerson, was sworn in as U.S. secretary of state on February 1.

ExxonMobil has extensive drilling interests in Russia, but its operations there have been curtailed due to sanctions imposed by the previous U.S. administration in response to Moscow's interference in Ukraine.

Peskov said that Russia was working on improving the environment for foreign investors and will continue to do so.

Based on reporting by Reuters and TASS