DHAKA: President Barack Obama is asking his advisers to keep him updated on reports of a plane shot down over Ukraine though the White House says it can't confirm the reports.

White House press secretary Josh Earnest told reporters Thursday that Obama spoke to Russian President Vladimir Putin before leaving on a trip to Delaware and New York. But Earnest could not say whether it was before or after Obama was aware of reports that the plane was shot down, reports The Huffington Post on Thursday.

An adviser to Ukraine's interior minister says a passenger plane carrying 295 people was shot down near the Russian border. Malaysian Airlines said it lost contact with one of its flights over Ukrainian airspace.

Earnest says Putin requested the call to discuss new sanctions imposed on Russia Wednesday.

BDST: 2240 HRS, JULY 17, 2014