Kerry heads for crisis talks over Ukraine

Former Ukrainian prime minister Yulia Tymoshenko campaigns in Kiev ahead of the 25 May presidential elections. Picture: Reuters

UNITED States Secretary of State John Kerry diverted his homebound flight last night and was headed for hastily arranged talks with Russian foreign minister Sergei Lavrov in an attempt to resolve the crisis gripping Ukraine.

Halfway home from Riyadh in Saudi Arabia, Kerry landed in Shannon, Ireland, for a refuelling stop, then decided to turn his plane around and headed to Paris to meet Lavrov this evening at the Russian ambassador’s residence.

The decision came after Russian president Vladimir Putin and President Barack Obama spoke in a late-night phone call to discuss a diplomatic solution drawn up by the Americans.

The White House said Putin called Obama over a ­proposal which Kerry presented to his Russian counterpart Lavrov earlier last week.

“President Obama noted that the Ukrainian ­government continues to take a restrained and de-escalatory approach to the crisis and is moving ahead with constitutional reform and democratic elections, and urged Russia to support this process and avoid further provocations, including the build-up of forces on its border with Ukraine,” an official at the White House said. It was stated that the leaders had spoken for an hour.

Kremlin officials said in their account of the conversation that Putin talked about action by extremists, such as the ultra-nationalist Right ­Sector, in Ukraine and suggested “possible steps by the international community to help stabilise the situation”.

They said Putin also pointed out that there is an “effective ­blockade” of Moldova’s separatist region of Trans-Dniester, where Russia has troops. There have been fears in Ukraine that Russia could use its forces in Trans-Dniester to begin an invasion.

The conversation followed demands by Ukraine’s ousted leader Viktor Yanukovich for a ­nationwide referendum which would serve Moscow’s purpose of turning the country into a loosely knit federation.

Yanukovich, who fled to Russia after three months of protests, raised the threat

of more unrest in Ukraine’s Russian-speaking eastern provinces, where many resent the new pro-European Union government.

Deep divisions between Ukraine’s Russian-speaking eastern regions, where many favour close ties with Moscow, and the Ukrainian-speaking west, where most want to ­integrate into Europe, ­continue to fuel tensions.