Talks between US Secretary of State John Kerry and his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov ended on Sunday evening after four hours of negotiations to defuse tensions over Ukraine.<br /><br />No decisions would be made on Ukraine without Ukraine stressed Kerry a point agreed on by Sergei Lavrov.<br /><br />The two discussed the drawdown of Russian troops from border areas between Ukraine and Russia.<br /><br />“Any real progress in Ukraine must include a pull back of the very large Russian force that is currently massing along Ukrainian’s borders and tonight I raised with the foreign minister our strong concern about his forces. We believe that these forces are creating a climate of fear and intimidation,” John Kerry told reporters.<br /><br />But there was no indication of any agreement on the issue. Kerry said he told Lavrov the US still considered Russian actions in Crimea to be “illegal and illegitimate”.<br /><br />The hastily arranged talks were held following a phone call between President Barack Obama and Russian President Vladimir Putin on Friday.
