Lavrov said after longer-than-expected talks with US Secretary of State John Kerry that Russia would "respect the will of the Crimean people" in a referendum on Sunday that has sparked the deepest divisions between Russia and the West since the Cold War.
Lavrov said the talks with Kerry in London had been "useful" but admitted in a news conference at the Russian ambassador's residence: "We have no common vision of the situation. Differences remain."
Despite a build-up of Russian troops on the eastern borders of Ukraine, Lavrov insisted "Russia has no, and cannot have, any plans to invade the southeast region of Ukraine".
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