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Lavrov: Russia and US fail to come to agreement on Ukraine

ROME, March 06, /ITAR-TASS/. Russia and the United States have so far not come to agreement on Ukraine, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said after talks with U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry on Thursday, March 6.

“I talked with John Kerry today in Rome after yesterday’s contacts in Paris. I continued the discussion on how the crisis in Ukraine could be resolved most effectively within a legal and constitutional framework, primarily on the basis of the February 21 agreement," Lavrov said.

“There is no complete understanding between us yet, and we want to know exactly what our partners mean by proposing to create some international mechanism and what it will be like. The most important point for us is respect for the February 21 agreement, primarily on the constitutional reform, formation of a government of national accord and holding of elections after the constitutional reform," the minister said.

“The second most important aspect is that any process that can be supported should be based on the expressly stated consensus of all regions of Ukraine. In this case we are particularly worried about Crimea and other southeastern regions," he said.

The State Department said Kerry and Lavrov had discussed possible formats of direct dialogue between Moscow and Kiev amid the current crisis in Ukraine.

Kerry stressed the importance for international observers to have access to Crimea and eastern Ukraine so that they could study the situation on the ground.

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