A Russian official says President Vladimir Putin and his Ukrainian counterpart, Petro Poroshenko, largely agree on what needs to be done to resolve the Ukraine crisis.
Russian news agencies quote presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov as saying the two leaders exchanged views in a phone conversation on ways to stop the "bloodshed" in southeastern Ukraine. Peskov said the views of Mr. Putin and Mr. Poroshenko "largely coincide" on possible ways out of the crisis.
Ukrainian troops and pro-Russian rebel forces have engaged in fierce clashes in eastern Ukraine. A Ukrainian military spokesman, Andriy Lysenko, said Tuesday that 15 Ukrainian soldiers have been killed in fighting in the east since early Monday.
Most of the fighting has been around the city of Donetsk, the rebels' largest stronghold and one of two major cities controlled by pro-Russian rebels seeking autonomy from Ukrainian rule.
The other city is Luhansk.