Russian President Vladimir Putin called American President Barack Obama on Friday to discuss a US diplomatic proposal for Ukraine, the White House said. It was believed to have been the first direct conversation between Obama and Putin since the United States and its European allies began imposing sanctions on Putin's inner circle and threatened to penalize key sectors of Russia's economy.
Putin called to discuss a US proposal for a diplomatic resolution to the Ukraine crisis, which Secretary of State John Kerry again presented to Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov at the Hague meeting earlier this week.
