Obama, Putin talk on phone amid rising tension in Ukraine

We are awaiting a response from the Russians, says American official

Amid increasing tension over Ukraine and massing of Russian troops on its border, President Barack Obama called up his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin and talked about a US proposal "for a diplomatic resolution to the crisis," the White House said today.

"Putin called Obama today to discuss the US proposal for a diplomatic resolution to the crisis in Ukraine, which Secretary (of State, John) Kerry had again presented to (Russian) Foreign Minister (Sergei) Lavrov at the meeting at the Hague earlier this week, and which we developed following US consultations with our Ukrainian and European partners," the White House said.

Obama suggested that Russia put a concrete response in writing and the presidents agreed that Kerry and Lavrov would meet to discuss next steps, the White House said.

"Obama underscored to Putin that the United States continues to support a diplomatic path in close consultation with the government of Ukraine and in support of the Ukrainian people with the aim of de-escalation of the crisis," the White House said.

During the call, Obama made clear that this remains possible only if Russia pulls back its troops and does not take any steps to further violate Ukraine's territorial integrity and sovereignty.

"Obama reiterated that the US has strongly opposed the actions that Russia has already taken to violate Ukraine's sovereignty and territorial integrity," the White House said.

According to a senior administration official, the US de-escalation proposal was fully coordinated with the Ukrainian government.

"We are awaiting a response from the Russians," the official said on condition of anonymity.

Refraining from getting into the details of diplomatic proposals, the official said Obama and Putin discussed the latest iteration of a working document that Kerry and Lavrov have been working on to de-escalate the situation, which has been the guiding concept of their approach.