US President Barack Obama called his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin and discussed with him the Iranian nuclear issues and the current situation in Syria, the White House said. Obama called Putin yesterday to discuss next steps in the bilateral relationship and to coordinate on regional and global issues, the White House said in a statement.
“Obama welcomed strong US-Russian cooperation in the P5+1 to address the Iranian nuclear issue. The Presidents welcomed the substantive and constructive consultations held by secretary Kerry and Russian foreign minister Lavrov earlier this week in Berlin on implementing the Geneva Action Group framework to enable a political transition in Syria,” it said.
According to White House, Obama agreed to meet Putin in Northern Ireland in June this year on the sidelines of the G-8 Summit and said he is looking forward to visit St Petersburg for the G-20 Summit in September.
The two Presidents agreed on the need to advance a political transition to end the violence as soon as possible and the importance of Kerry and Lavrov continuing their engagement on Syria. The telephonic conversation between the two leaders comes after the meeting between the secretary of state, John Kerry, and his Russian counterpart in Berlin early this week.