Kerry, Russian counterpart launch new talks on Ukraine

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Bodies covered with blankets lie in a field near the village of Blahodatne in eastern Ukraine after a clash between Ukrainian troops and pro-Russian separatists. (Ivan Sekretarev / Associated Press)

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A Ukrainian soldier stands near a destroyed truck at the site of a gunfight near the village of Blahodatne in which several soldiers were killed. (Ivan Sekretarev / Associated Press)

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A pro-Russian fighter uses his cellphone to take a photo of a burning cafe during a clash between Ukrainian troops and pro-Russian militants at a checkpoint outside Slovyansk. (Rafael Yaghobzadeh / Associated Press)

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Ukrainian soldiers stand guard atop an armored personnel carrier in the town of Volnovakha. (Dimitar Dilkoff / AFP/Getty Images)

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A pro-Russian militant guards a checkpoint near the eastern Ukrainian city of Donetsk. (Alexander Khudoteply / AFP/Getty Images)

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Pro-Russian militants stand watch at their base at an undisclosed location in the Donesk region of Ukraine. (Genya Savilov / AFP/Getty Images)

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A pro-Russia militant looks through binoculars at a checkpoint on the road from Donetsk to Mariupol in Ukraine on May 15. (Alexander Khudoteply / AFP/ Getty Images)

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Votes are counted at a polling place in Donetsk, Ukraine, on May 11 after voters cast ballots on whether two eastern Ukrainian regions should become sovereign republics. (Evgeniy Maloletka / Associated Press)

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Poll workers in Slovyansk, Ukraine, dump a ballot box to count votes after heavily Russian communities in eastern Ukraine staged a sovereignty referendum. (John Moore / Getty Images)

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A woman examines her ballot at a polling station in Mariupol, Ukraine, on May 11 during a referendum on greater autonomy for eastern Ukraine. (Brendan Hoffman / Getty Images)

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People wait in line in Budennovskiy, Ukraine, to vote in a May 11 referendum conducted by pro-Russian leaders in eastern Ukraine. (Fabio Bucciarelli / AFP/Getty Images)

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A pro-Russian gunman holds his machine gun and a flower during the commemoration of Victory Day in Donetsk, Ukraine on May 9. Victory Day honors the armed forces and the millions who died in World War II. This year it comes as Russia is locked in the worst crisis with the West, over Ukraine, since the end of the Cold War. (Manu Brabo / Associated Press)

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Armed pro-Russian militants on top of an armored personnel carrier during Victory Day events in Slaviansk, Ukraine. (Roman Pilipey / EPA)

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Denis Pushilin, center front, a chairman of the self-declared Donetsk People’s Republic takes part in the Victory Day anniversary event in Donetsk, Ukraine. (Maxim Shipenkov / EPA)

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Recruits take part in military exercises in the shooting range of the Ukrainian national guard near the village of Novy-Petrivtsi not far from Kiev on May 8. (Sergei Supinsky / AFP/Getty Images)

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Pro-Russian supporters lead an unidentified man in front of the occupied regional administration building in Donetsk, Ukraine. Pro-Russian separatists said that up to 20 of their fighters may have been killed in clashes with government troops in the eastern Ukrainian city of Slaviansk. (Maxim Shipenkov / EPA)

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A medical worker holds an assault rifle as a wounded pro-Russian combatant exits a car at a hospital in the eastern Ukranian city of Slavyansk. Four Ukrainian troops were killed and 30 wounded in intense fighting around the rebel-held town of Slavyansk on May 5, the interior ministry said. (Vasily Maximov / AFP/Getty Images)

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Pro-Russian armed men block the regional police office in Lugansk, Ukraine. (Zurab Kurtsikidze / EPA)

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Separatists, left, block Ukrainian riot police in the courtyard of the regional administration building in Lugansk, Ukraine. (Zurab Kurtsikidze / EPA)

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Pro-Russian activists gesture from a window after breaking into the regional administration building in the eastern Ukraine city of Lugansk. (Alex Inoy / AFP/Getty Images)

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Pro-Russian protesters attack pro-Ukrainian supporters during their rally in Donetsk, Ukraine. (Roman Pilipey / EPA)

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A pro-Russian activist beats his shield as the activists regroup after clashing with pro-government supporters during a rally and march in Donetsk, Ukraine. (Scott Olson / Getty Images)

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A pro-Russian activist sits at a barricade at the regional administration building in Donetsk, Ukraine. (Efrem Lukatsky / Associated Press)

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A member of the Ukrainian special forces takes position at an abandoned roadblock in the eastern Ukrainian city of Slavyansk. Ukraine’s military launched an assault on the flashpoint rebel-held town of Slavyansk, sending in armored vehicles and a helicopter. (Kirill Kurdyavtsev / AFP/Getty Images)

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Black smoke billows from burning tires at a checkpoint following an attack by Ukrainian troops outside Slovyansk, Ukraine. (Mika Velikovskiy / Associated Press)

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The body of Ukrainian councilman Volodymyr Rybak, lies in the coffin prior to his funeral after his body was found in the eastern city of Horlivka, Ukraine. (Sergei Grits / Associated Press)

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At a symbolic graveyard laid out in Prague, Czech Republic, a child hugs one of 107 crosses commemorating the people who died during the recent protest on Kiev’s Independent Square. (Filip Singer / EPA)

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An Orthodox priest blesses the crowd at a pro-Russian rally outside the secret service building in the eastern Ukrainian city of Lugansk. (Dimitar Dilkoff / AFP/Getty Images)

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Armed pro-Russia activists block a column of Ukrainians riding on armored personnel carriers in the eastern Ukrainian city of Kramatorsk. (Anatolii Stepanov / AFP/Getty Images)

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Ukrainians sit on armored personnel carriers as they are blocked by armed pro-Russia supporters in the eastern Ukrainian city of Kramatorsk. (ANATOLII STEPANOV / AFP/Getty Images)

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Ukrainian men sit on armored personnel carriers as they are blocked by armed pro-Russia supporters in the eastern Ukrainian city of Kramatorsk. (Anatolii Stepanov / AFP/Getty Images)

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A woman wrapped in a European Union flag attends a pro-Ukraine rally in the eastern Ukrainian city of Lugansk. (Dimitar Dilkoff / AFP/Getty Images)

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Pro-Russia activists raise hands to voice their opinion during a rally outside the regional police building in the eastern Ukrainian city of Horlivka. (Alexander Khudoteply / AFP/Getty Images)

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Pro-Russian protesters burn tires as they prepare for battle with Ukrainian special police forces on the outskirts of the eastern Ukrainian city of Slavyansk. (Anatoliy Stepanov / AFP/Getty Images)

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Crimeans celebrate in the central square in Simferopol, Ukraine on Friday. Russian President Vladimir signed a bill Friday making Crimea and the city of Sevastopol part of Russia. (Yuri Kochetkov / EPA)

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Ukrainian Prime Minister Arseny Yatsenyuk, right, chats with British Prime Minister David Cameron, middle, and Swedish Prime Minister Fredrik Reinfeldt during a signing ceremony at a summit in Brussels. (Olivier Hoslet / EPA)

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People wave flags as they watch Russian President Vladimir Putin deliver a speech in the Crimean city of Sevastopol. (Viktor Drachev / Agence France-Presse / Getty Images)

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Russia’s President Vladimir Putin addresses a joint session of Russian parliament on Crimea in the Kremlin. (Kirill Kudryavtsev, AFP/Getty Images)

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Russian military vehicles travel the road between the Crimean cities of Simferopol and Sevastopol in Ukraine. Legislators in Crimea declared the region independent of Ukraine and adopted the Russian ruble as the official currency. (Viktor Drachev / AFP/Getty Images)

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Members of a “self-defense” unit carry a friend’s coffin in Kiev this month. (Anatolii Boiko / AFP/Getty Images)

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People hold flags during a rally in central Moscow on Friday in a show of solidarity with pro-Russian authorities in the Ukrainian region of Crimea. (Vasily Maximov / Agence France-Presse / Getty Images)

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A Ukrainian naval officer looks at the scuttled Russian vessel Ochakov from the Black Sea shore outside the town of Myrnyi. Russian forces scuttled the decommissioned ship, blockading five Ukrainian navy vessels. (Darko Vojinovic / Associated Press)

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Ukrainian troops guard an airbase outside Sevastopol. (Zurab Kurtsikidze / EPA)

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Russian troops pose for a group photo before getting into trucks near the Ukrainian military base they are blockading near Perevalne. (Sean Gallup / Getty Images)

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Pro-Russian activists holding Russian flags take part in a rally in the western Crimean city of Yevpatoria, Ukraine. (Genya Savilov / AFP/Getty Images)

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Russian soldiers guard a pier where two Ukrainian naval ships are moored near Sevastopol. (Andrew Lubimov / Associated Press)

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A coffin with the body of Volodymyr Topiy, 59, who was found burned in the house of trade unions during recent clashes, is carried along a street during his funeral in Kiev’s Independence Square. (Emilio Morenatti / Associated Press)

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A Ukrainian soldier speaks to his daughter through a gate as he waits inside the Sevastopol tactical military brigade base near Belbek in Sevastopol. (Filippo Monteforte / AFP/Getty Images)

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A Ukrainian airman puts the national flag over the gate as they guard what’s left under their control at the Belbek air base, outside Sevastopol, Ukraine. (Ivan Sekretarev / Associated Press)

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Moscow-born Dmitry Savransky, right, who holds dual citizenship, American and Russian, joins his Ukrainian wife Natalya Seay, left, during a protest rally in front of the Russian embassy, in Washington. (Manuel Balce Ceneta / AP)

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Demonstrators rally in Simferopol, a city in Ukraine’s Crimea region. One of their signs says, “Crimea belongs to us! Citizens of Ukraine. Russian troops scare us.” Another says, “We are united against war!” (Sergei L. Loiko / Los Angeles Times)

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Ukrainians wave various national flags at a rally against Russian intervention in Kiev’s Independence Square. (Bulent Kilic, AFP/Getty Images)

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Unidentified masked individuals hold a Russian flag as they block the Trade Union building in Simferopol, the administrative center of Crimea. (Genya Savilov / AFPGetty Images)

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Russian activists clash with opposition fighters as they storm the regional government building in Kharkiv. (Sergey Bobok / AFPGetty Images)

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Protesters hold a banner reading “Donetsk region with Russia” and a placard reading “South-east against fascism!” during a rally in the industrial Ukrainian city of Donetsk. (Alexander Khudoteply / AFPGetty Images)

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A woman sleeps behind a barricade on Kiev’s Independence square. (Bulent Kilic / AFPGetty Images)

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Members of an opposition self-defense unit stand guard at Independence Square in central Kiev. (Louisa Gouliamaki / AFPGetty Images)

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A member of an opposition defense unit looks at pictures of protesters who were killed during recent clashes. (Bulent Kilic / AFPGetty Images)

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Unidentified armed men patrol outside of Simferopol airport. (Viktor Drachev / AFPGetty Images)

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One of the armed masked men who call themselves members of Ukraine’s disbanded elite Berkut riot police force aims his Klashnikov rifle at a checkpoint under Russian flags on a highway that connects the Black Sea Crimea peninsula to mainland Ukraine. (Viktor Drachev / AFPGetty Images)

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A man stands with an Ukrainian flag in Kiev’s Independence Square. (Bulent Kilic / AFPGetty Images)

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Protesters sing the Ukrainian national anthem Saturday in Independence Square in central Kiev. (Louisa Gouliamaki, AFP/Getty Images)

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Volodymyr Holodnyuk, in a makeshift morgue in central Kiev, holds the blue helmet that his son Ustym was wearing when a sniper fatally shot him in the head. (Sergei L. Loiko / Los Angeles Times)

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Protesters clash with police in central Kiev Thursday morning, Feb. 20, 2014. (Sergei L. Loiko / Los Angeles Times)

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A protester takes a smoke break at the barricades in central Kiev, Ukraine, Thursday, Feb. 20, 2014 (Sergei L. Loiko / Los Angeles Times)

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Ukrainian protesters stand behind burning barricades during a face-off against police in Kiev. (Bulent Kilic / AFP/Getty Images)

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Protesters catch fire as they stand behind burning barricades during clashes with police in Kiev, Ukraine. (Bulent Kilic / AFP/Getty Images)

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Ukrainian anti-government protesters clash with police in Kiev’s Independence Square. (Jeff J Mitchell / Getty Images)

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A Ukrainian protester hurls a cobblestone over a wall of fire toward police storming Independence Square in central Kiev. (Sergei L. Loiko / Los Angeles Times)

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A wounded Ukrainian protester is evacuated during clashes with police in Kiev’s Independence Square. (Efrem Lukatsky / Associated Press)

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Ukrainian protesters advance toward new positions in Kiev as a truce broke down and clashes with police renewed. (Louisa Gouliamaki / AFP/Getty Images)

By Henry Chu

March 14, 2014 4:43 AM PT

LONDON -- U.S. Secretary of State John F. Kerry and his Russian counterpart have launched a new round of talks to try to cool down the crisis over Moscow’s de facto occupation of Ukraine’s Crimean peninsula and the secession referendum planned there this weekend.

Kerry and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov began their meeting Friday morning at the U.S. ambassador’s residence in London amid pessimism that either Moscow or the West will budge in possibly their worst confrontation over Europe since the end of the Cold War.

The United States and the European Union condemn the takeover of Crimea by pro-Russian forces and say the plebiscite Sunday on whether to withdraw from Ukraine and join Russia is illegitimate. Moscow counters that the Russian-speaking majority in Crimea deserves protection from an ultranationalist new Ukrainian government that grabbed power in a coup.

“Obviously we have a lot to talk about,” Kerry said. “I look forward to an opportunity to dig into the issues and possibilities that we may be able to find about how to move forward together to resolve some of the differences between us.”

“This is a difficult situation we are in,” Lavrov said. “Many events have happened and a lot of time has been lost, so now we have to think what can be done.”

The two diplomats had been expected to meet earlier this week, but that fell through when there appeared to be no common ground on which to negotiate.

In expectation that the vote Sunday will take place despite their objections, the U.S. and EU have begun drafting a list of Russian officials on whom they will impose travel bans and asset freezes. Moscow warns that it will respond to the sanctions in kind.

In Crimea, Russian soldiers and pro-Moscow militias have seized control of Ukrainian military outposts, government buildings and media outlets. Activists in favor of keeping the strategically important peninsula part of Ukraine report intimidation and harassment by pro-Russian forces.

Ukrainian officials also say that about 80,000 Russian troops have massed near the border between the two countries.

henry.chu@latimes.com

Twitter: @HenryHChu