CRI听力:Russian FM Meets His Ukrainian Counterpart

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has met for the first time with his Ukrainian counterpart since the ouster of Ukraine's pro-Russian president and Russia's move to take control of Crimea.

Lavrov has met with Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andriy Deshchytsia on the sidelines of the Nuclear Security Summit in The Hague.

"We conveyed to him the steps that we see need to be taken by the Verkhovna Rada to finally establish a normal, pan-national dialogue based on mutual respect that takes into account the specifics of different parts of Ukraine and accounts for the interests of all of its inhabitants."

Lavrov, who has also met with US Secretary of State John Kerry on the sidelines of the summit, says he has also reaffirmed Moscow's demand for a constitutional change in Ukraine that will give more autonomy to all regions of the country.

At the same time, G7 nations have held an emergency meeting in the Hague, seeking to isolate Russia over its actions in Ukraine.

The group has decided that a planned summit of the world's leading economic powers, which had been scheduled to be hosted by Russia, will not go forward.

In Crimea, the last remaining Ukrainian naval forces and troops are now abandoning their posts following an order from Kiev asking them to withdraw.

Back in Moscow, the Russian government has already started drawing a blueprint for the future of Crimea.

Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev is reportedly considered granting Crimea the status of a special economic zone.