Russia's Putin calls for regional currency union

Putin met Belarussian President Alexander Lukashenko and Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev in the Kazakh capital Astana to discuss economic problems facing the three countries, all of which are members of the Eurasian Economic Union, a political and economic bloc of former Soviet republics.

The Russian leader also said he hoped the conflict in Ukraine would soon end, adding: "I hope the Kiev authorities will gradually implement the agreements (for ending the conflict) reached in (the Belarussian capital) Minsk," he said.

(Reporting by Denis Dyomkin, Writing by Lidia Kelly, Editing by Timothy Heritage)