Readout of the President’s Call with President Vladimir Putin of Russia

President Obama spoke today by phone with President Vladimir Putin of Russia to discuss President Putin’s June 20 meeting with President Ilham Aliyev of Azerbaijan and Serzh Sargsian of Armenia regarding the settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.  President Obama expressed his readiness to intensify efforts together with Russia and with France, as co-Chairs of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe Minsk Group, to achieve a comprehensive settlement to the conflict.

On Syria, President Obama emphasized his concerns over the failure of the Syrian regime to comply with the Cessation of Hostilities in Syria.  President Obama stressed the importance of Russia pressing the Syrian regime for a lasting halt to offensive attacks against civilians and parties to the Cessation, noting the importance of fully recommitting to the original terms of the Cessation.

The Presidents confirmed their commitment to defeating ISIL and the Nusrah Front, al-Qa’ida’s affiliate in Syria.  President Obama also stressed the necessity for progress on a genuine political transition to end the conflict in Syria, as well as sustained humanitarian access, and expressed his support for the efforts of UN Special Representative for Syria Staffan de Mistura to make progress on those efforts.

On Ukraine, President Obama urged President Putin to take steps to end the significant uptick in fighting in eastern Ukraine and stressed the urgent importance of moving forward with full implementation of the Minsk agreements.