Putin, Obama call for de-escalation of Saudi-Iranian tensions
In this photo taken Tuesday, Jan. 5, 2016, Russian President Vladimir Putin speaks during an interview with the German daily Bild at the Russian Black Sea resort of Sochi, Russia. Putin said on Tuesday, Jan. 12 that it would be too early to speak about granting political asylum to Syrian President Bashar Assad, a Putin ally and arguably the main obstacle in the Syrian peace process. (Alexei Nikolsky/Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP)
Russian President Vladimir Putin and U.S. President Barack Obama spoke by telephone on Wednesday and called for an easing of tensions between and Iran and Saudi Arabia, the Kremlin said.
The two leaders also discussed Ukraine, a resolution to Syria’s crisis and the situation on the Korean peninsula, a Kremlin statement said.