EU foreign ministers and Russia's Sergei Lavrov failed to find common ground on Ukraine at a meeting in Brussels on Monday (16 December).
Two of the EU delegates remarked that Lavrov was in good spirits.
"There was lots of humour, as always with Sergei Lavrov," the Netherlands' Frans Timmermans said.
"It was horribly polite. Sergei Lavrov said several times 'I'm in a good mood,' and I have seen him in a bad mood before at Nato meetings," Luxembourg's Jean Asselborn noted.
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Andrew Rettman is EUobserver's foreign editor, writing about foreign and security issues since 2005. He is Polish, but grew up in the UK, and lives in Brussels. He has also written for The Guardian, The Times of London, and Intelligence Online.