The secretary reiterated the U.S. position that Russia should immediately work to de-escalate the tension and to restore Ukrainian territorial integrity, the admiral said.

The call was “direct,” the press secretary said. Hagel was “very direct about his concerns about the troops that are on the Russian side of the border, … and he wanted a better accounting for what that was all about,” he added.

Shoygu assured Hagel that Russian troops arrayed on the border “are there to conduct exercises only, that they have no intention of crossing the border into Ukraine, and that they would take no aggressive action,” Kirby said. “The two leaders agreed to keep the dialogue open.”