Russia's Putin tells Obama 'direct talks' in Ukraine should be priority: Kremlin

MOSCOW (AFP) - Russian President Vladimir Putin and his US counterpart Barack Obama discussed on Monday ways to put an end to the Ukraine crisis, with the Kremlin chief stressing the importance of a ceasefire and talks between the warring sides.

"Vladimir Putin stressed that a genuine cessation of fighting and the start of direct talks between the warring sides would have the highest priority for the normalisation of the situation in the southeastern regions," the Kremlin said in a statement following the phone talks.

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