You're reading: Putin, Obama discuss Ukraine crisis

The presidents of Russia and the United States, Vladimir Putin and Barack Obama, "had a detailed discussion on the acute crisis in Ukraine" during a phone call on July 17, the Kremlin said.

“Putin again stressed the need for an immediate cessation by both sides of hostilities in southeastern Ukraine that have already led to numerous fatalities and forced hundreds of thousands of Ukrainians to seek shelter in Russia. The unacceptability was emphasized of Ukrainian army attacks against Russian territory, which have caused fatalities among Russian citizens,” the Russian president’s office said in a statement.

“The Russian president informed Barack Obama on measures taken by the Russian side to resume the consultations of the contact group with the participation of representatives of southeastern Ukraine. Hope was expressed that the American side would also make a contribution to launching peace negotiations in Ukraine. Such, for example, is the purpose of the Russian initiative to have OSCE [Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe] monitors posted at some of the crossing checkpoints on the Russian-Ukrainian border,” the statement said.