(Vatican Radio) Envoys from the European Union, Russia, the United States and Ukraine
say they will meet next week to discuss the worsening situation in Ukraine in what
will be their first four-way gathering since the crisis erupted. The announcements
came as Ukraine's interim government struggled to end pro-Moscow uprisings along the
Russian border with mixed results.
While authorities were able to recapture
one regional headquarters in the city of Kharkiv, they were could not retake an 11-story
regional building in Donetsk, where protesters have dug in for their third day.
And
on Wednesday, a standoff continued in a third city, Luhansk, where Ukraine's Security
Service said separatists armed with explosives and other weapons were holding 60 people
hostage inside the agency's local headquarters.
Those occupying the building
issued a video statement saying they want a referendum on the region's status and
warning that any attempt to storm the place would be met with armed force.
RUSSIANS
"HIRED"
US Secretary John Kerry says those sparking the unrests are Russians
hired by Russia.
"Everything that we've seen in the last 48 hours, from
Russian provocateurs and agents operating in eastern Ukraine, tells us that they've
been sent there determined to create chaos," Kerry said. "And that is absolutely unacceptable."
Moscow
has denied the claims. However Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said the situation
could improve only if Kyiv "took into account the interests of Russian-speaking regions".
Amid
the tensions, EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton will join U.S. Secretary of
State Kerry, his Russian counterpart Lavrov and Ukraine's Foreign Minister Andriy
Deshchytsia next week to discuss the tensions.
RUSSIAN TROOPS
Russia
annexed Crimea in February and has as many as 40.000 troops massed along the border.
Kyiv
and the West say Moscow is encouraging unrest in the mainly Russian-speaking east
of the country as an excuse to possibly seize more territory. Russia has strongly
denied those charges.
International fears are increasing that the crisis could
lead Russia to cut off natural gas supplies to Ukraine’s crippled economy. Officials
say this could impact Europe, where several countries are heavily dependent on Russian
natural gas.
Ukraine missed a deadline to pay the equivalent of some 2.2 billion
dollars that it owns for natural gas already pumped. The Kremlin said President Vladimir
Putin would meet senior officials Wednesday to discuss economic ties with Ukraine,
including energy.