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Ukraine Talks Reach Initial Deal as Putin Keeps Force as Option
Three Pro-Russian Protesters Killed in East Ukraine City of Mariupol

By Laurence Norman and Jay Solomon in Geneva and Lukas I. Alpert in Moscow

Updated April 17, 2014 11:07 p.m. ET

VIDEO

Russian President Vladimir Putin said Thursday he hoped not to send Russian troops into Ukraine but didn't rule it out, accusing the Kiev government of committing "a serious crime" by using the military to quell unrest. Paul Sonne reports. Photo: AP.

Ukrainian and Russian diplomats, backed by the U.S. and Europe, agreed to take steps to turn down the heat in the escalating standoff with pro-Russian militias, even as President Vladimir Putin showed no sign of backing down.

Talks in Geneva that included U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov yielded an agreement for separatists to demobilize militias and vacate seized government buildings, and also established a political dialogue that could lead to more autonomy for Ukraine's restive east.

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