US reassures European allies after Russia talks

Brussels: The top US negotiator on the crisis between the West and Russia over Moscow’s military build-up on Ukraine’s border briefed Nato allies on Tuesday, after inconclusive talks with her Kremlin opposite number.

US Deputy Secretary of State Wendy Sherman flew to the alliance’s Brussels headquarters from Geneva, where on Monday she had held a meeting with Russia’s Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov.

Some European officials have complained that Washington is taking the lead in talks with Moscow. But Sherman insisted that European allies are being kept in the loop, after meeting Nato Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg and ambassadors from the Nato member states.