John Kerry says Russian troops withdrawing from Ukraine

US Secretary of State John Kerry and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov met in Paris on Tuesday to discuss a number of issues, including the sharing of intelligence on the IS jihad movement and the crisis in Ukraine, which has heavily strained Moscow-Washington ties, Deutsche Welle informs.

Kerry said that Russian troops were withdrawing from Ukraine – a necessary initiative to have Western sanctions lifted. “There are four to five principal requirements with respect to lifting the sanctions: release of hostages, release of all prisoners, is one; the withdrawal of troops and equipment is another,” Kerry said after meeting Lavrov in Paris. “And at this point … many of them are happening now, the troops are pulling back, the heavy equipment still has to be pulled back and the border is yet to be properly monitored and secured.”

Before Tuesday’s meeting, Russian President Vladimir Putin – who will meet with Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko in Milan on Friday– had called back over 17,000 soldiers which had been stationed at the Ukrainian border since the summer.

Lavrov tried to convince Kerry to remove sanctions against Russia, which have been having a massive impact on the country’s economy and could have long-lasting repercussions. “We do not know who is losing out more in economic terms: Russia or the European Union,” he said before flying to Paris.

The sanctions have cut Russia’s access to Western money markets and forced its biggest state companies to appeal for massive rescues that will further limit the government’s ability to meet its social commitments. They also threaten to tip Russia into recession and ensure that growth remains anemic through the remaining four years of Putin’s third term.