Kiev: The United States and Russian top diplomats headed for crucial talks on Ukraine on Wednesday as the European Union unveiled an aid package worth at least 11 billion euros to support the country’s new pro-Western leaders. The talks in Paris to defuse the worst East-West stand-off since the Cold War came as pro-Moscow forces seized part of two missile bases in Ukraine’s Crimea peninsula, although all missiles remained in Ukrainian hands.
US Secretary of State John Kerry and Russia’s Sergei Lavrov were meeting for the first time since Ukraine’s Moscow backed president Viktor Yanukovych was ousted late last month after three months of protests which left nearly 100 dead.
US President Barack Obama said on Tuesday Russia was “not fooling anyone” after it claimed it had no troops operating in Crimea, where pro-Russian forces have taken control. But while stepping up diplomatic pressure Washington with the support of European heavyweights France and Germany and Britain is also seeking to offer President Vladimir Putin a way out of the crisis in the ex-Soviet state.
“De-escalation” on the Russian side would include its troops going back inside their bases in Crimea, home to Russia's Black Sea naval fleet since the 18th century, the official added.
Meanwhile, about 1,000 pro-Russian protesters took back the regional government building in the eastern Ukrainian city of Donetsk on Wednesday, leaving around a dozen people injured, an AFP reporter witnessed.
