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US Presses Russia to Create Environment for Ukraine Diplomacy

by VOA News March 11, 2014

The United States said Tuesday that Russia's responses to U.S. proposals to resolve the Ukraine crisis fail to create the proper environment for a diplomatic resolution.

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry spoke to Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov Tuesday morning. They discussed Russia's response to questions the United States posed over the weekend that are aimed at finding a diplomatic solution in Ukraine.

'The environment has to be right and the goal must be to protect the immunity and sovereignty of Ukraine and we didn't see that, obviously, in the responses that we received back,'' State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki said.

US 'giving money to bandits'

Meantime, during his second public appearance since fleeing to Russia in late February, ousted Ukraine president Viktor Yanukovych denounced his opponents as 'ultra-nationalists and neo-fascists', insisted he remains Ukraine's sole legitimate leader and vowed to return to Kyiv soon.

​​​Yanukovych accused his opponents of working to put the country's army 'under the banner of Bandera and start a civil war,' a reference to a controversial World War II-era Ukrainian nationalist leader with ties to the Nazis.

Yanukovych also criticized the United States for promising monetary aid to Ukraine's new government, and said he would appeal to the U.S. Congress and Supreme Court to assess the legality of giving such aid, insisting U.S. laws prohibit giving money to 'bandits.'

Confusing referendum ballot

Crimea is moving ahead with plans to hold a referendum on unification with Russia. However, Ukraine's parliament warned Tuesday that the Crimean Assembly faces dissolution unless the March 16 referendum is called off by Wednesday.

A sample of the ballot published on the parliament's website appears to offer no option for staying with Ukraine for those voters who might be opposed to joining Moscow. Both options appear to result in Crimea passing under Russian control. ​​
Crimea closed its airspace to commercial flights but allowed several planes from Moscow to land, Reuters reported, five days ahead of the referendum that the government in Kyiv and its Western backers say is illegal.

Germany's foreign minister said the European Union will act if the Crimea vote goes forward as planned but didn't specify what possible measures the EU would take.

And, after repeatedly being denied entry to Crimea, an unarmed OSCE military observer mission is scheduled to visit other parts of Ukraine, including Kyiv, soon.

Some information in this report was provided by Reuters news agency and VOA's Michael Eckels in Moscow.