Who gained, and what, at Ukraine talks

MOSCOW (AP) — The talks in Geneva on Ukraine brought together four parties that had seemed extremely far apart on some issues, but within a few hours they produced a broad agreement that holds out substantial hope for a crisis that appeared on the verge of spinning out of control.

In what U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry described, with seeming understatement, as “a good day’s work,” Ukraine, Russia, the U.S. and the European Union each achieved initial satisfaction on some issues and weren’t hit by overt defeat on any. Some of that is because of what was left carefully unspoken in the joint statement at the end of Thursday’s talks. Other issues depend on whether the words can be translated into action.