PARIS (AFP) - US Secretary of State John Kerry and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov on Wednesday held direct talks on Ukraine in Paris on the sidelines of an international meeting on Lebanon, a diplomatic source said.

Mr Kerry and Mr Lavrov held discussions along with their German and French counterparts over coffee after lunch at the French presidential palace, an AFP journalist witnessed.

A Western diplomatic source said the talks centred around the crisis in Ukraine and lasted for several minutes.

It was the first time Mr Kerry and Mr Lavrov had met since a pro-Moscow government in Ukraine was ousted, prompting the de facto takeover of the Crimean peninsula by pro-Moscow forces.

Western governments are pressing Mr Lavrov to hold direct talks with the acting Ukrainian Foreign Minsiter during his time in Paris.