President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia reached out to President Obama on Friday, March 28, 2014 to discuss ideas about how to peacefully resolve the international standoff over Ukraine, a surprise move by Moscow to pull back from the brink of an escalated confrontation that has put Europe and much of the world on edge, The New York Times reports.

Officially, Putin called to discuss a US proposal for a diplomatic resolution of the Ukraine crisis, which US Secretary of State John Kerry presented to Russian foreign minister Sergei Lavrov.