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3/5/14

U.S. Effort to Broker Russia-Ukraine Diplomacy Fails - by Michael R.Gordeb and Steven Erlanger

An effort by the United States to broker the first face-to-face diplomatic meeting between Russia and Ukraine over the Crimea confrontation failed on Wednesday, but both Secretary of State John Kerry and his Russian counterpart said there would be more discussions in the days ahead. Their remarks left open the possibility of progress toward a solution to de-escalate an East-West crisis reminiscent of the Cold War.

Mr. Kerry and the Russian foreign minister, Sergey V. Lavrov, spoke separately to reporters after a meeting at France’s Foreign Ministry, which Mr. Lavrov called “a long day of discussions on Ukraine.”

But American efforts to arrange a direct meeting between Mr. Lavrov and the acting Ukrainian foreign minister, Andrii Deschchytsia — who was in the same building but not the same room — did not happen, reflecting the tensions over Russia’s refusal to recognize the interim government in Kiev.

Mr. Lavrov told reporters that he and Mr. Kerry had agreed to continue discussions in the coming days to come “to see how best we can help stabilize, normalize the situation and overcome the crisis. The discussions will continue and that’s it.”

Read more: U.S. Effort to Broker Russia-Ukraine Diplomacy Fails - NYTimes.com

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