OTTAWA — Foreign Affairs Minister Rob Nicholson is expressing muted optimism that U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry’s meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin could open the door to resolving the Ukraine crisis.

Nicholson got a briefing from Kerry at the meeting of NATO foreign ministers in Turkey, which wrapped today.

Kerry met Putin in Russia on Tuesday for the first time since the Ukraine crisis erupted last year.

There was no firm breakthrough but Kerry was focused on getting Russia to abide by a February ceasefire agreement with Ukraine.

Nicholson says the meeting may have marked the beginning of some progress.

But Nicholson says Kerry remains in lockstep with Canada and its allies: that Russia must get out of Ukraine, and that it will only be judged by what it does, not what it says.

The Canadian Press