You're reading: Financial Times: Pro-Russia protesters refuse to retreat

Pro-Russia activists refused to retreat from occupied public buildings in eastern Ukraine on Friday despite an unexpected diplomatic breakthrough on Thursday night that laid out steps to disarm the protesters and ease tensions in the country. After seven hours of negotiations, Sergei Lavrov, the Russian foreign minister, and John Kerry and Andriy Deshchytsia, his US and Ukrainian counterparts, said a statement had been agreed calling for the disbanding of armed groups, the vacation of occupied streets and buildings, and an amnesty for people detained during the unrest.

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