WASHINGTON, Feb. 21 (UPI) -- U.S. President Barack Obama called Russian President Vladimir Putin Friday to discuss Ukraine and other global issues.
On Ukraine, where violent confrontations between protesters and security forces have left scores of people dead in recent days, Obama and Putin "exchanged views on the need to implement quickly the political agreement reached today in Kiev, the importance of stabilizing the economic situation and undertaking necessary reforms, and the need for all sides to refrain from further violence," the White House said in a statement.
The two leaders also spoke about civil war-torn Syria and efforts to advance a political solution, concerns over the humanitarian crisis and the need for the Assad regime to stick to its commitment to eliminate the country's chemical-weapons program, the statement said.
They also discussed U.S.-Russian cooperation in the P5+1 process to get Iran to curtail its nuclear program, which Western nations and Israel fear are aimed at developing nuclear weapons, and Obama congratulated Putin on the Winter Olympic Games, now being contested in Sochi.
