Tornado Alley (PROG)

[arizona1]

Putin Calls Obama to Discuss Ukraine, White House Says

President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia called President Obama on Friday. Credit Alexei Nikolsky/RIA Novosti Kremlin, via Associated Press

RIYADH, Saudi Arabia — President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia called President Obama on Friday to discuss a proposal by Mr. Obama for a diplomatic resolution to the crisis in Ukraine, and the two leaders agreed that diplomats for both countries should meet soon to discuss it, the White House said.

In a statement from the White House, officials said that the telephone call from the Russian president followed a proposal presented by Secretary of State John Kerry to Sergey V. Lavrov, the Russian foreign minister, during talks at the Hague earlier this week.

Officials did not describe details about the proposal but said that Mr. Obama told Mr. Putin during the call that the United States would like to see a diplomatic solution that involves Russia pulling back its troops from the Crimean Peninsula and not making any further steps to invade other parts of Ukraine.

The statement said that Mr. Obama, who was visiting Saudi Arabia on Friday, “urged Russia to support this process and avoid further provocations, including the buildup of forces on its border with Ukraine.”

White House officials said that Mr. Obama and Mr. Putin agreed during the call that Mr. Kerry and Mr. Lavrov would meet soon “to discuss next steps.”

Officials did not say when that meeting might happen. Mr. Kerry has been in Europe with Mr. Obama during the past week and was in Riyadh Friday with the president for a meeting with King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia.

White House officials said Mr. Obama took the call from Mr. Putin at the Ritz Carlton hotel here in Riyadh Friday evening after he finished a two-hour dinner with King Abdullah to discuss Iran, Syria and other security issues.

The president and Mr. Putin have been locked in a tense standoff since Russian forces rolled through Crimea earlier this month and Russia annexed the region of Ukraine, a move that the United States and its allies refuse to recognize.

Over the past several days, Mr. Obama has urged European nations and other allies to consider broadening sanctions against Russia if Mr. Putin escalates the situation in Ukraine. Mr. Obama has also vowed to enhance, with other nations’ help, NATO’s protections of member countries along the border with Russia.
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/03/29/world/europe/putin-calls-obama-on-Ukraine.html?emc=edit_na_20140328&_r=0