MOSCOW (AFP) - Russian President Vladimir Putin and U.S. President George W. Bush discussed the standoff over Iran's nuclear program, the Kremlin said.

In a phone conversation, the two leaders discussed "development of the situation in connection with the Iranian nuclear issue", the Kremlin said in a statement. Bush initiated the phone conversation, it added.

The conversation came a day after Putin elaborated on a Russian plan, backed by the United States and the European Union, to assuage international concern over Iran's nuclear ambitions by enriching uranium jointly with Iran but on Russian territory for use in producing atomic energy. At a Kremlin news conference on Tuesday, Putin reiterated a proposal for expanding that plan to include participation by other countries in creation of an international "network" for uranium enrichment to provide nuclear fuel to any interested country on a "non-discriminatory basis."