MOSCOW, Jan. 2 (Xinhua) -- Russian President Vladimir Putin and his French counterpart Emmanuel Macron discussed the Syrian settlement and Ukraine-related issues over the phone on Wednesday.

The two presidents examined the problems of the Syrian settlement in detail, primarily in the context of a four-party agreement on the formation of a constitutional committee, the Kremlin said.

Putin, Macron, German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan agreed to set up a Syrian constitutional committee during a summit on Oct. 27 in Istanbul.

During Wednesday's phone call, Putin and Macron also exchanged views on the Ukrainian crisis, taking into account what had happened in the Kerch Strait on Nov. 25, according to the Kremlin.

Moscow-Kiev tensions flared up after Russia shot at and seized three Ukrainian naval ships attempting to sail through the Kerch Strait from the Black Sea to the Sea of Azov, alleging that they had intruded into Russian territorial waters.

However, the Ukrainian government insisted that it had informed the Russian side beforehand and has arranged lawyers to defend the captured sailors.