U.S. President Barack Obama and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin spoke on Friday on the sidelines of a lunch for world leaders attending D-Day commemoration ceremonies, marking their first face-to-face conversation since the crisis in Ukraine erupted.
The White House said the conversation was informal and lasted 10-15 minutes inside a chateau where the leaders ate lunch.
As leaders posed outside the building for a group photo before the lunch, Mr. Obama and Mr. Putin appeared to be avoiding each other deliberately. But once inside, they made time for their first such exchange since Mr. Putin annexed Ukraine’s Crimean Peninsula. As the crisis as developed, Mr. Obama and Mr. Putin have spoken by phone, but haven’t met in person.
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Mr. Obama told reporters on Thursday that if and Mr. Putin ended up speaking, he would tell the Russian leader that he has a new path to engage with Ukraine through President-elect Petro Poroshenko.