Kerry Makes Push to Ease Ukraine Tension in Lavrov Talks

U.S. and Russian diplomats will meet today to discuss the crisis in Ukraine, heading a global diplomatic push to ease tension as forces in Crimea square off and the Obama administration maintains the threat of sanctions against President Vladimir Putin’s government.

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry is set to meet in Paris with his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov, who said yesterday that the threat of sanctions won’t change his government’s position. Putin yesterday said there was no immediate need to invade Ukraine, though he reserved the right for military action to defend ethnic Russians in the region.