Putin defends Crimea's decision to hold referendum

Russian President Vladimir Putin watches a skiing event at the Paralympic Winter Games at Rosa Khutor near Sochi March 9, 2014. REUTERS/Alexei Nikolskiy

MOSCOW/BERLIN (Reuters) - Russian President Vladimir Putin defended breakaway moves by the pro-Russian leaders of Crimea on Sunday in a phone call with German Chancellor Angela Merkel and British Prime Minister David Cameron, according to the Kremlin.

The three leaders spoke amid tensions on the Black Sea peninsula since the Moscow-backed regional parliament declared the Ukrainian region part of Russia and announced a March 16 referendum to confirm this.