Russia told not to disrupt Ukraine vote
The US has warned Russia of punishing new sanctions if the Kremlin and its allies in Ukraine disrupt crucial presidential elections in the former Soviet republic less than 10 days away.
Kyiv’s interim leaders are battling to keep Ukraine from disintegrating ahead of the May 25 vote, pressing on with a military offensive to put down a bloody pro-Moscow insurgency in the eastern industrial heartland.
‘Our message is really, quite simple: ‘Let Ukraine vote. Let the Ukrainian people choose their future’,’ US Secretary of State John Kerry said at a meeting with European counterparts in London.
He said the separatists who have seized over a dozen towns in a month of fighting and declared independence in two industrial regions in defiance of Kyiv and the West were ‘sowing mayhem’.
‘Far from defending the rights of the people in the east, they are seeking to speak for everybody through the barrel of the gun,’ Kerry told reporters.
He said the US and its European allies would impose sectoral sanctions ‘if Russia or its proxies disrupt the elections’.
The tough talk came as Ukraine pressed on with a military operation against rebels around Slavyansk, the epicentre of the uprising, despite the launch of ‘national unity’ talks in Kyiv on Wednesday.
The round-table discussions are part of a initiative launched by the pan-European Organisation for Security and Cooperation to try to resolve the escalating crisis on Europe’s doorstep.
Crucially however, the rebels were not invited despite Western calls for inclusive talks, and no progress was reported.
A fresh round of talks aimed at achieving reconciliation in crisis-hit Ukraine would take place in the coming days, former president Leonid Kravchuk was reported as saying on Friday.
Kravchuk, who co-chaired round-table talks earlier this week, said Saturday was a possible date for the next session of a national unity dialogue, Russian news agency Itar-Tass reported. The eastern Ukrainian cities of Donetsk or Kharkiv were likely venues, he said.
The east of Ukraine remains on edge, with fighting flaring almost every night around rebel flashpoints and reports – difficult to confirm – of attacks on election centres and government officials.
Around Slavyansk, Ukrainian forces have set up control posts with tanks and armoured vehicles backed up by helicopters and anti-aircraft guns to try to seal off the rebel-controlled city.
‘We are defending ourselves against the separatists who constantly attack us with automatic weapons, rifles and grenade launchers,’ one National Guard officer told AFP.
Ukraine’s central bank also said it was forced to close its branch in the main eastern city of Donetsk and evacuate staff after being threatened by separatists demanding money.
Dozens of people have been killed in the southeast since mid-April as government troops battle to dislodge the insurgents.
Fears are growing that Ukraine could tear apart after rebels declared ‘sovereignty’ in Donetsk and neighbouring Lugansk following weekend referendums branded illegitimate by Kyiv and the West.
Interim President Oleksandr Turchynov has said his administration is ready to reach out to pro-Russians in the east but that the separatists must first lay down their arms.
Turchynov is to meet EU Enlargement Commissioner Stefan Fuele on Friday while Polish Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski will discuss the crisis with his Ukrainian counterpart, Andriy Deshchytsya, and Turchynov.
Western leaders see the May 25 vote as crucial for the future of Ukraine after Russia’s much criticised annexation of Crimea in March, which plunged relations between Moscow and the West to their lowest point since the Cold War.
Russia and Europe are also locked in a dispute over Ukraine’s gas debt after Moscow threatened to turn off the taps if Kyiv fails to pay a $1.6 billion bill by early June.
Putin said on Thursday Russia was still open to talks on the issue, but complained that Brussels had failed to make any specific proposals.
European Commission spokeswoman Pia Ahrenkilde-Hansen said however that Putin’s ‘criticism is … unfounded’, as talks between Russia, Ukraine and the EU have been held at different levels.
Another meeting between the EU’s energy commissioner and Russia’s energy minister is due to be held Monday in Berlin, she added.
Nearly 15 per cent of all gas consumed in Europe is delivered from Russia via Ukraine, which is facing further economic gloom despite a $US17 billion ($A18.39 billion) IMF aid package.