Gee, Wally - you mean he didn't call up the Grand Kenyan first?
Maybe he did but mac daddy was to busy planning his next $600,000,000.00 tax payer vacation.
Expect an unending stream of praise for The One for stopping WWIII and for making Putin back down.
Merkel had and used actual leverage. Perhaps she said that Germany was willing to forego Russian gas even if it meant buying LNG at exorbitant prices, knowing that it would cause hardship for Germany but the end of Russia's economy. Russia depends more on Germany than vice-versa, and Putin knows it.
In other words, Putin respects Merkel and Germany. In contrast, he brushes Obama off like a piece of lint.