In diplomacy, like in sales, success often depends on making your adversaries believe they proposed the result you wanted. By that measure, Russian President Vladimir Putin appears to have closed the sale on annexing Crimea from Ukraine. On Monday, Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev visited the region that Moscow now claims over international protests, while Russia also said it was withdrawing a battalion of infantry troops from the tens of thousands deployed near the border with eastern Ukraine. Meanwhile, diplomatic efforts focus on defusing the immediate threat of armed conflict and setting up a negotiating process, rather than necessarily reversing the Crimean annexation.
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Secretary of State Kerry cites defusing tensions and setting up talks as goals
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Kerry doesn't mention Crimea by name after meeting with Russian counterpart
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Russian troops near the Ukraine border now the main topic
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Kerry's bottom line: "No decisions about Ukraine without Ukraine"
Medvedev said Monday @placeholder state salaries and pensions should be raised to Russian levels, as should the pay for military personnel, while compulsory social insurance would be introduced to the region next year.