Obama, Putin discuss need to restore stability to Ukraine

The US and Russian presidents have spoken about "need" to restore stability in Ukraine and tackle humanitarian and political issues of Syria in addition to diverse topics of common interest. U.S. President Barack Obama has called Russian President Vladimir Putin discussing Ukraine and a range of other global issues, the White House announced, adding the two presidents, in their Friday conversation, "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." They also spoke about "the situation in Syria, including the importance of efforts to advance a political solution, concerns over the humanitarian crisis and the necessity of a strong UN Security Council resolution on the issue, and the need for the Assad regime to adhere to its commitment to eliminate Syrias chemical weapons program." In addition, the two leaders discussed U.S.-Russian cooperation in the P5+1 process on Iran. Obama also "congratulated Russia on its hosting of the Olympic Games" in Sochi. On Ukraine, a senior State Department official said that Putin, during the call, also "affirmed that Russia wants to remain part of the implementation process." The official added that "they also talked about the need to stabilize the Ukrainian economy and to get Ukraine back on a peaceful path. And on both sides, there was a pledge to stay engaged along with the Europeans." "Its clearly an important signal that the President (Obama) and President Putin were able to talk positively about implementing this agreement, and that its not simply about implementing this agreement and ending violence, and that that is in both the interest of Ukraine, the interest of Russia, the interest of Europe, and the interest of the United States, that we clearly share interests there, but that we have to move on from there and ensure that this very, very fragile Ukrainian economy is stabilized," the official stressed.The official emphasized that "we consider it constructive that Putin has been engaged, not just with us but also with European leaders as this has gone forward." Meanwhile, the Pentagon announced in a statement that Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel spoke by phone Friday with Ukrainian Minister of Defense Pavlo Lebedev during which the Ukrainian Minister assured Hagel that " the Ukrainian armed forces remain the protectors of the Ukrainian people, that their deployment inside the country has been focused on protecting defense facilities and equipment, and that his forces would not use arms against the Ukrainian people." For his part, Hagel said "he was encouraged by the recent news that the Ukrainian government and the opposition leadership had reached an agreement on how to move forward without further violence." Hagel "commended the government's decision to keep the military on the sidelines of the crisis thus far and urged continued restraint." "Lebedev expressed his appreciation for U.S. involvement in negotiations to resolve the situation in Ukraine," the statement noted.