The Kremlin announced that the Russian and American presidents had spoken by telephone, describing the conversation between the two as frank.

The call is understood to have covered the situation in Ukraine. No specific agreements or follow-up schedule were disclosed.

The sequence of contacts

The call followed visits by an American envoy to Moscow and Kyiv in quick succession. Moving from envoy-level discussion to a leaders' call is standard negotiating procedure.

That both channels are active does not mean a settlement is near. On previous occasions a rise in the frequency of contacts was followed by a return to stalemate.

European reactions

European governments are watching the process closely and have repeatedly stated that they should not be excluded from it. Security guarantees and the sharing of reconstruction costs are their principal concerns.

Ukraine's government maintains that it cannot accept any agreement reached without its participation, a principle that has constrained the shape of the talks.

Each side issued its own account of the call. Differences of emphasis between the two readouts often indicate where the contested points lie.