US President Barack Obama was conspicuous by his absence from the talks world leaders held on the Ukraine crisis Friday on the sidelines of the D-Day celebrations in Normandy. It was Russian president Vladimir Putin who was cornered by German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Francois Hollande to approve their plans for a ceasefire. Ukraine-President Petro Porochenko was pulled in to the discussion on ways to prevent the civil war raging in E. Ukraine from spilling over into the rest of the country. The Russian and Ukrainian leaders agreed to follow up on their first encounter in Normandy with further exchanges in Kiev Sunday, after Putin named Mikhail Zurabov new Russian ambassador.