Russian President Vladimir Putin said he briefed his US counterpart Donald Trump on the Ukraine crisis Saturday as he came under pressure over Moscow's robust foreign policy at the G20 summit in Argentina.
Putin said he explained Moscow's position when the leaders met briefly at a summit dinner.
"We spoke standing up. I replied to his questions about the incident in the Black Sea," Putin told reporters at the end of the summit.
Putin strode into the summit on Friday under a cloud, having drawn outrage from Europe over last Sunday's incident in which his navy detained Ukrainian ships and 24 sailors -- causing Trump to abruptly cancel their scheduled meeting.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel took him to task at length Saturday over the naval spat, a day after French President Emmanuel Macron urged Putin to "de-escalate" the crisis.
Merkel used breakfast with Putin on the sidelines of the G20 summit to voice her "concern" over the tensions in the Kerch Strait off Russian-annexed Crimea.
"Of course, we talked about the situation in the Sea of Azov, because it is important to avoid any aggravation," Merkel said in Buenos Aires.
Macron raised his concerns with the Russian leader at one of his first bilateral meetings, pressing him "to make the necessary gestures so that there is a de-escalation", said a French official.
Both European countries are members of the "Normandy Four" group with Moscow and Kiev, set up to resolve the conflict in eastern Ukraine involving Russian-backed rebels.
Merkel said she had also discussed Syria with Putin, "especially ... the Idlib region," where a fragile ceasefire has been negotiated between rebels and Syrian army forces backed by Moscow.
Her main focus, however, was on the situation in Ukraine.
"I want to make it quite clear, though, that free shipping to the Sea of Azov must be guaranteed to the Ukrainian coasts and cities. There is a basic contractual agreement from 2003 on this. Russia must comply with this basis," she said.
Away from the summit, US Defense Secretary Jim Mattis said Moscow had shown "brazen contempt" for a deal "that allowed both Russian and Ukrainian ships free passage." - 'Exhaustive explanations'-
Disclaimer: No Business Standard Journalist was involved in creation of this content