Ukraine: US, Russia and EU strike deal after crisis talks

A deal has been struck in the Ukraine crisis talks in Geneva. US secretary of state John Kerry, the EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton and Russian foreign minister Sergey Lavrov said they will take steps to de-escalate the situation in the country. Lavrov said: “All illegitimate armed groups must be disarmed. Every occupied building must be returned to its legitimate owner. All public spaces and busy streets in every Ukrainian city must be free. It’s necessary to declare an amnesty for demonstrators except for those who’ve committed a crime.” He added there must be constitutional reforms and that the crisis be resolved by Ukraine. Kerry said: ‘‘The parties agreed today that all sides must refrain from the use of violence, intimidation, or provocative actions. And we strongly condemned and rejected all expressions of extremism, racism and religious intolerance including anti-Semitism.’‘ Catherine Aston said the agreement had “concrete steps which could be implemented immediately”. The Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) will oversee the new measures .