The west’s diplomatic efforts to counter Russia’s takeover of Crimea faced setbacks on multiple fronts yesterday as the Kremlin refused to engage with the new Ukrainian government and the allies themselves were at loggerheads over how tough a line to take with Moscow.
The reluctance of Sergei Lavrov, the Russian foreign minister, to meet his Ukrainian counterpart cast a shadow over talks in Paris, the US and Russia’s first top-level meeting since the crisis intensified last week.
A US-led push for allied agreement to impose sanctions on Russia faltered with the strong resistance of Germany, which was prepared only to cut off visa liberalisation and trade agreement talks with Russia.
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