U.S. President Barack Obama expressed his desire on Thursday to continue working with Russia toward the establishment of a special juridical body to try pirates, the Kremlin said.

Obama told Russian President Dmitry Medvedev in telephone conversation that he wanted to work with Russia to resolve "this pressing international issue," the Kremlin statement said.

Somali pirates carried out a record number of attacks and hijackings in 2009. According to the Piracy Reporting Center of the International Maritime Bureau, a total of 217 vessels were attacked and 47 hijacked last year.

Russia has repeatedly called for the creation of a special juridical body to try hijackers captured during anti-piracy operations off the Somali coast. In late April, the UN Security Council adopted Russia's proposal to consider the creation of a new court for this purpose.

Obama's comments come a week after Russian naval forces freed the Moscow University tanker and its 23 crewmembers. The ship was hijacked by Somali pirates en route from the Red Sea to China.

One pirate was killed and several injured in a 22-minute operation. The pirates were captured, but later set adrift in an inflatable boat without navigation equipment far from the Somali coast.

Russia said it had had "no legal grounds for detaining them" as they could not be prosecuted under international or national law.

MOSCOW, May 13 (RIA Novosti)