US, Russia talks fail to end Ukraine deadlock

PARIS (AP) — The U.S. and Russia are advancing far different proposals on how to calm tensions and de-escalate the crisis in Ukraine as Russia continues to mass troops along its border with the former Soviet republic.

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry Sunday called for Moscow to begin an immediate pullback of the troops. He also ruled out discussion of Russia's demand for Ukraine to become a loose federation until and unless Ukrainians are at the table.

While the United States and Russia agreed that the crisis in Ukraine requires a diplomatic resolution, four hours of talks Sunday between Kerry and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov failed to break a tense East-West deadlock over how to proceed.