President Barack Obama and his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, spoke over the telephone Wednesday and discussed the crisis in Ukraine, the Syrian conflict and the recent nuclear test carried out by North Korea.
"They spent a significant portion of their time discussing the need for the Russians to live up to the commitments that they made in Minsk -- to end their support for separatists that are destabilizing Ukraine right now," White House spokesman Josh Earnest said, according to AFP.
On the Syrian conflict, the two leaders concurred "the necessity of taking steps to foster productive discussions between representatives of the Syrian opposition and regime under United Nations auspices, principally by reducing violence and addressing the urgent humanitarian needs of the Syrian people," read a statement detailing the conversation, reported Reuters.
The two leaders discussed the "effort to try to bring about a political transition inside of Syria. Both the United States and Russia have a vested interest in seeing that occur," Earnest added.
The leaders also agreed on how to work with North Korea, with both opining that if North Korea's claims of having tested a hydrogen bomb were true, then "a tough international reaction," was required, as per the Kremlin. The White House said that the need for "a strong and united international response" was discussed, according to the Associated Press.
The Kremlin described the exchange of thoughts between the two leaders as "frank and business-like," reported Newser.
