Russian President Vladimir Putin held phone talks Thursday with his Ukrainian counterpart Petro Poroshenko on Kiev’s plans for defusing the crisis in the separatist east.

Russian President Vladimir Putin held phone talks Thursday with his Ukrainian counterpart Petro Poroshenko on Kiev's plans for defusing the crisis in the separatist east.

"Ukraine's president notified Vladimir Putin of his plan to settle the situation in Ukraine's southeast," Putin's spokesman Dmitry Peskov told Russian news agencies.

"On top of that, the presidents discussed issues related to the development of bilateral ties," Peskov said.