MOSCOW/PARIS (Reuters) - France has postponed a visit to Moscow by its defence and foreign ministers that had been planned for Tuesday as part of an effort to pressure Russia to de-escalate the crisis in Ukraine.
A Russian Foreign Ministry source told Reuters on Monday about the delayed meeting shortly after President Vladimir Putin signed a decree recognising the Ukrainian region of Crimea as a sovereign state. Crimea declared itself independent and applied to join Russia following a referendum held over the weekend.