Putin, Obama Have Spoken on the Phone Just Ten Times This Year

MOSCOW - Russian President Vladimir Putin has spoken with Barack Obama on the phone just a handful of times this year.

For Subscribers

FOR SUBSCRIBERSCentrist think tank warns 2028 Democrats against swinging too far left on immigration

FOR SUBSCRIBERSRussia’s secrecy after a mysterious plague lab death raises global alarm

FOR SUBSCRIBERSAfter surviving a botched lethal injection, Christa Pike faces unprecedented legal battle

FOR SUBSCRIBERSHunger in a land of plenty: Major food banks face ‘heartbreaking’ need, NBC News survey finds

FOR SUBSCRIBERSInflation and tariffs push U.S. holiday spending projections to a record $1.7 trillion

FOR SUBSCRIBERSWhat happened inside the room where officials tried to execute Christa Pike by lethal injection

FOR SUBSCRIBERSHow we reported the saga of the CIA officer and his gold-bar stash

FOR SUBSCRIBERSBrad Raffensperger gears up to oversee his final election in Georgia

FOR SUBSCRIBERSDiddy is punished following NBC News report on his VIP life in prison and contraband cellphone use

FOR SUBSCRIBERS‘Too young to vote, old enough to be tear gassed’: French protesters’ anger swells

FOR SUBSCRIBERSDOJ gets aggressive in suing states that challenge Trump’s immigration policies

FOR SUBSCRIBERSJustice Department seeks criminal charge for former Trump aide Cassidy Hutchinson

FOR SUBSCRIBERS‘I just want to hold him’: USS Lincoln sailor to meet his 10-month-old son as ship docks

FOR SUBSCRIBERSSenate candidates run on raising Social Security taxes for higher incomes to prevent benefit cuts

FOR SUBSCRIBERSRussian operation that used ChatGPT tricked schools, a politician and media, OpenAI says

Slide 1 of 1

According to Kremlin records collated and analyzed by NBC News, Obama has chatted with Putin just five times since Moscow’s annexation of Crimea on March 21, and only 10 times during 2014. The White House confirmed the figures.

German leader Angela Merkel has had 33 phone calls with Putin this calendar year, according to the Kremlin. Merkel grew up in Soviet-controlled East Germany and she speaks Russian while Putin is fluent in German. She has played a key role in negotiations with Russia during the crisis with the West over Moscow's military involvement in Crimea and eastern Ukraine.

For Subscribers

FOR SUBSCRIBERSCentrist think tank warns 2028 Democrats against swinging too far left on immigration

FOR SUBSCRIBERSRussia’s secrecy after a mysterious plague lab death raises global alarm

FOR SUBSCRIBERSAfter surviving a botched lethal injection, Christa Pike faces unprecedented legal battle

FOR SUBSCRIBERSHunger in a land of plenty: Major food banks face ‘heartbreaking’ need, NBC News survey finds

FOR SUBSCRIBERSInflation and tariffs push U.S. holiday spending projections to a record $1.7 trillion

FOR SUBSCRIBERSWhat happened inside the room where officials tried to execute Christa Pike by lethal injection

FOR SUBSCRIBERSHow we reported the saga of the CIA officer and his gold-bar stash

FOR SUBSCRIBERSBrad Raffensperger gears up to oversee his final election in Georgia

FOR SUBSCRIBERSDiddy is punished following NBC News report on his VIP life in prison and contraband cellphone use

FOR SUBSCRIBERS‘Too young to vote, old enough to be tear gassed’: French protesters’ anger swells

FOR SUBSCRIBERSDOJ gets aggressive in suing states that challenge Trump’s immigration policies

FOR SUBSCRIBERSJustice Department seeks criminal charge for former Trump aide Cassidy Hutchinson

FOR SUBSCRIBERS‘I just want to hold him’: USS Lincoln sailor to meet his 10-month-old son as ship docks

FOR SUBSCRIBERSSenate candidates run on raising Social Security taxes for higher incomes to prevent benefit cuts

FOR SUBSCRIBERSRussian operation that used ChatGPT tricked schools, a politician and media, OpenAI says

Slide 1 of 1

Overall, the Kremlin said Putin has been on 130 phone calls involving world leaders this year. French President Francois Hollande has spoken to the Russian leader 15 times, the Kremlin records show. Obama’s level of contact is roughly in line with Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev, who has had nine calls with Putin. Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko and British Prime Minister David Cameron have both spoken to Putin just six times by phone.

Four of Obama's calls were in March, the month in which Moscow annexed Crimea. They included a 90-minute marathon conversation in early March as Russian troops began to mobilize on the peninsula, according to the Kremlin.

IN-DEPTH

• Russia Sends In Aid Convoy Without Ukraine's OK
• U.S.-Born Mom Expelled as Threat to Russian Security
• Hacked! Russia's 'Ashamed' PM Didn't Really Resign

- Albina Kovalyova, Alexander Smith and Stacey Klein