NORMANDY, France (RIA Novosti) – Russian President Vladimir Putin had a brief conversation on Ukraine with his US counterpart Barack Obama in Normandy, France on Friday, presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov said.
“Although there was no separate meeting, the heads of the two states got an opportunity to exchange opinions about the situation in Ukraine as well as about the crisis in the east of the country. Putin and Obama spoke in favor of defusing the violence and military actions as soon as possible,” the spokesman said.
The talks on the sidelines of ceremonies to mark the 70th anniversary of the Allied landings in Normandy came right after a short conversation between Putin, German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Ukraine’s President-elect Petro Poroshenko.
Earlier in the day President Putin met Chancellor Merkel behind closed doors to discuss compromises and solutions to the current standoff in Ukraine.
On Thursday, Russian leader held separate talks with British Prime Minister David Cameron and French President Francois Hollande also focused on the Ukrainian crisis.
In an interview with the French media ahead of his trip to Normandy Putin stressed that he was open for talks with everyone and was not going to avoid any of his colleagues intentionally.
