US Secretary of State John Kerry and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov today held direct talks on Ukraine in Paris on the sidelines of an international meeting on Lebanon, diplomats said.
Kerry and Lavrov held informal discussions along with their British, French and German counterparts over coffee after lunch at the French presidential palace, a US State Department official said.
A Western diplomatic source said the talks centred around the crisis in Ukraine and lasted for several minutes.
It was the first time Kerry and Lavrov had met since a pro-Moscow government in Ukraine was ousted, prompting the de facto takeover of the Crimean peninsula by pro-Moscow forces.
Western governments are pressing Lavrov to hold direct talks with the acting Ukrainian Foreign Minsiter during his time in Paris.
