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Tensions between the United States and Russia over the crisis in Crimea have exploded into
an open row as Russia rejects U.S. diplomatic efforts to solve the impasse.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said Monday that U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry
postponed a face-to-face meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin to discuss American
proposals, which Moscow has effectively rejected, on solving the crisis.
The meeting, which Russia said was supposed to happen Monday, would have marked the highest-level
contact between the two countries since Russian troops took up positions in Crimea, and would
have come ahead of Sunday's potentially explosive vote on whether Crimea should split from Ukraine
and join Russia. But Kerry told Lavrov he needed to know Moscow
would engage seriously on a diplomatic solution before meeting with the Russian leader. He
also wanted to see and end to Russia's "provocative steps" before traveling to Russia.
Relations between Russia and the West have grown increasingly tense since Russian soldiers
seized effective control of the pro-Russian region. The United States and other European
powers have threatened possible sanctions in response to Russia's moves, but Moscow
has shown little sign of backing down. A senior U.S. official said a proposal, which
Kerry presented to Lavrov in Paris on Wednesday, summarized several rounds of talks Kerry and
his counterparts from Britain, France and Germany held separately with Lavrov and Ukraine's
foreign minister. Because Lavrov was not authorized to negotiate in Paris, Kerry gave him the
list of ideas to take back to Putin. According to the senior U.S. official, the
Kerry proposal calls for Russian troops to return to their barracks and for the disarming
of so-called "self-defense" militias in Crimea who, although they don't wear insignia, are
believed to be Russian. International monitors would be dispatched to Crimea and other parts
of Ukraine as part of the proposed plan.