You're reading: Putin tells Obama he hopes Ukraine will take steps to establish dialogue with Donbas

The presidents of Russia and the U.S. discussed the situation in Ukraine, primarily in the context of the implementation of the package of measures to settle the conflict, which was approved in Minks on February 12, 2015, in a phone conversation on Sunday.

“Vladimir Putin said he is hoping that the Kyiv authorities will finally take practical steps to promptly fulfill their obligations, including the establishment of direct dialogue with Donbas, carrying out amnesty and constitutional reform, and approving with representatives of Donetsk and Luhansk the enactment of changes to the law on special status,” the Kremlin press service told Interfax.

The conversation between the Russian and U.S. leaders and frank and business-like, the report says.