U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry hopes to explore Russia's willingness to curb its involvement in Ukraine and its support for Syria's president at talks on Tuesday with President Vladimir Putin.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry will discuss the Ukraine crisis and other global conflicts on Tuesday in Russia's Black Sea resort of Sochi, RIA news agency quoted a diplomatic source as saying.
China has invited Russian troops to march in a parade in Beijing in September to commemorate the end of World War Two, the Defence Ministry said on Monday, a move likely to further put off Western leaders from attending.
Some Russian soldiers are quitting the army because of the conflict in Ukraine, several soldiers and human rights activists have told Reuters. Their accounts call into question the Kremlin's continued assertions that no Russian soldiers have been sent to Ukraine, and that any Russians fighting alongside rebels there are volunteers.
