The Kremlin said Russian President Vladimir Putin informed President Obama of the MH17 disaster after learning of it just before a scheduled phone call between the two.
"The Russian leader informed the US president of the report from air traffic controllers that the Malaysian plane had crashed on Ukrainian territory, which had arrived immediately before the phone call," it said in a statement.
The rest of their conversation was apparently dedicated to the situation in eastern Ukraine, and recent US sanctions against Russian individuals and companies.
A Kremlin statement said Mr Putin opened a meeting with his economic advisers by calling for a moment of silence over the crash.
He reportedly then said "this tragedy would not have happened if there were peace on this land, if the military actions had not been renewed in south-east Ukraine. And, certainly, the state over whose territory this occurred bears responsibility for this awful tragedy."