US Secretary of State John Kerry and his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov continue to exchange frank views on the situation in Ukraine.

The US says it wants to find a diplomatic solution, but Russian responses to US proposals to end the crisis are insufficient.

White House spokesperson Jay Carney said: “There have been and there will be costs to Russia’s action. We have a flexible tool that will allow us to calibrate what those costs will be depending on what decision Russia takes.”

The Russian Foreign Ministry said that any solution to Ukraine’s crisis must take into account the
interests of all Ukrainians in all regions and that the right of the
residents of Crimea to determine their future must be respected.