Obama urges Putin to control separatists in Ukraine

 US President Barack Obama in a telephone call urged hisRussian President Vladimir Putin to use his influence and rein in the separatists ineastern Ukraine.Pro-Russian activists continued to occupy buildings in eastern towns, according to aBBC News report.Putin rejected accusations of Russian interference, calling the reports “unreliable”EU foreign ministers Monday said they would expand a list of names targeted bysanctions.Tension has been steadily rising since Russia annexed the Crimean peninsula,formerly part of Ukraine, last month. The move, condemned as illegal by Kiev and the West, followed the ousting ofUkraine’s pro-Moscow President Viktor Yanukovych in February, BBC News said.