A U.N. envoy was in a standoff with armed men who blocked his car. 
 
 From left, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, French President Francois Hollande, Italian Foreign Minister Federica Mogherini and U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry talk during a break at the Elysee Palace in Paris on March 5. (Photo: Alain Jocard, AP) Story Highlights Top diplomats converge on Paris 
 
 Putin has signaled he is not ready for war 
 
 NATO meeting with Russia in Brussels 
 
 KIEV, Ukraine — Negotiations to end the crisis in Crimea foundered Wednesday over Russia's refusal to recognize Ukraine's new leaders much less sit down with its ambassador. 
 
 "I wish I could give you some good news," said Polish Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski outside the talks in Paris. "But unfortunately it hasn't been possible to bring together the foreign ministers of Ukraine and Russia." 
 
 Wednesday's gathering of diplomats in Paris came a day after Russian President Vladimir Putin appeared to calm fears of further military incursion by saying he has no intention to "fight the Ukrainian people." Russian troops took over key points of Crimea after the parliament in Kiev ousted Ukraine's pro-Moscow president, Viktor Yanukovych. 
 
 U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and several European diplomats met Wednesday to discuss whether there are peaceful ways to end Russia's occupation of Crimea, a peninsula where many Russian-speaking people say they want more autonomy from Kiev. 
 
 But Lavrov refused to meet with the Ukraine ambassador, saying he represents an "illegitimate" government. 
 
 "I don't think any of us had an anticipation that we were coming here at this moment, in this atmosphere of heightened tension and confrontation, that we were suddenly going to resolve that here, this afternoon," Kerry said after talks ended for the day. 
 
 To induce Crimea to lean toward Europe rather than Russia, the European Union on Wednesday matched a $15 billion aid offer that Putin had made to help with Ukraine's financial woes. 
 
 The United States offered an additional $1 billion in loan guarantees to help Ukraine reduce its energy reliance on Russia, which supplies the majority of Ukraine's natural gas. 
 
 WATCH: Pro-Russian crowds chant as envoy departs 
 
 In Ukraine, Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk blamed Putin for causing one of the sharpest international crises in Europe since the end of the Cold War. Despite a denial from Lavrov, Russian troops have fanned into Crimea and are controlling border crossings and bases, as well as encouraging Ukrainians to rise up against the government, he said. 
 
 "Mr. President (Putin), stop this mess," Yatsenyuk said. "Let me remind Mr. Putin that this government was supported by the constitutional majority of Ukrainian members of parliament. We are legitimate." 
 
 Ukrainians who helped oust Yanukovych say Putin had planned all along to invade and was just waiting for an excuse. 
 
 "It is all about the Russians' ambitions," said Roman Yaruchik, 40, of Kiev. "It's obvious that Russian troops entered Crimea even before their parliament ratified sending the troops to invade Crimea." 
 
 Putin claims that Yanukovych, whom he has given sanctuary in Russia, remains the true president. The Ukraine government has issued a warrant for his arrest on charges of murder for the shooting of more than 80 protesters in Kiev. 
 
 U.N. special envoy to Ukraine Robert Serry took refuge March 4 in a coffee shop from an armed group in Crimea who also blocked him from leaving. He later agreed to end his mission and leave the country. (Photo: ATR TV) 
 
 In Crimea, Russian troops held onto positions outside Crimean cities and pro-Russian militia members blocked Ukraine military bases to prevent soldiers from getting out. 
 
 A special U.N. envoy cut short his mission in Crimea on Wednesday after being threatened by 10 to 15 armed men and ordered to leave the region, U.N. officials said. 
 
 ITV News' Europe Editor James Mates reported that envoy Robert Serry left his car, which had been blocked by the armed men shouting, "Putin! Putin!," and took refuge in a nearby coffee shop. 
 
 AID PACKAGE: U.S. pledges $1 billion aid to Ukraine 
 
 The United States and European Union have threatened Russia with economic sanctions if it does not back down. A Russian politician told the RIA Novosti news agency that the Russian Senate was preparing a bill that would allow for the confiscation of American and European corporate assets located in Russia were sanctions to be introduced. 
 
 CRISIS IN CRIMEA: Russia's Putin appears to blink in Ukraine 
 
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 United Nations envoy Robert Serry has agreed to end his mission in Crimea and leave the region after a group of armed men hijacked his car and took him hostage in a coffee shop. 
 
 Serry is believed to be on his way to the airport after agreeing to the demands of the 15 or so men that he drop his diplomatic mission and leave. As he drove off to the airport, a crowd jeered "Putin! Putin!" and "Russia! Russia!" at him. 
 
 He had been threatened at gunpoint by the men in Sevastopol, according to the UN deputy secretary general Jan Eliasson. 
 
 "This action should be seriously condemned," said Eliasson. 
 
 The diplomat's car was surrounded by unidentified militiamen as he was leaving a Ukrainian naval base after talks with a commander. He had no security detail with him, according to reports. 
 
 "He was met outside the main [naval] headquarters by a number of unidentified men who were saying that he should leave Crimea and go to the airport," the UN deputy secretary said. 
 
 Serry was forced into a coffee shop and was prevented from leaving until he accepted the militamen's demands. 
 
 "On his way to the hotel he stopped by a cafe to call me," Eliasson said. 
 
 "Some [militiamen] were armed [but] not with heavy arms." 
 
 Some of the men were wearing combat fatigues and the black and gold star of Russia. The language they were speaking, or where they were from, has not been confirmed. 
 
 Interfax, the Russian news agency, had earlier reported that Serry had been kidnapped by armed men but the claims were refuted by the United Nations. 
 
 James Mates, Europe editor for ITV News, was with Serry when he was taken captive. 
 
 According to Mates's Twitter account, Serry asked the reporter and his film crew to remain with him and continue filming. 
 
 The envoy said that he was very happy to leave Crimea and end his mission if it helped de-escalate the situation, according to Mates.
– UN special envoy Robert Serry suddenly aborted his stay in Crimea today after a run-in with a group of armed men. Gunmen, some in combat fatigues, reportedly surrounded Serry's car after he left a meeting at a Ukrainian naval base unaccompanied by a security detail, USA Today and the International Business Times report. They said they had orders to bring him to the airport. "I refused, I sat in the car. There was kind of a standoff," Serry said. Serry managed to get out of the car and walk to a nearby cafe, where he holed up with ITV News reporter James Mates, as a local militia blocked the entrance. Eventually, Serry agreed to leave the country; according to Mates, he said he was "happy to leave Crimea if it helped deescalate the situation." He got into his car and drove off, as a crowd of protesters chanted, "Putin!" and "Russia!" A UN spokesperson says Serry will "shortly return to Kiev to continue his mission." Ukrainian officials originally characterized the incident to Reuters as a kidnapping. A UN deputy secretary-general soon set the record straight, saying, "He was not kidnapped, but he was seriously threatened. This action should be seriously condemned."