Tentative talks in Kyiv

OSCE-appointed mediator Wolfgang Ischinger of Germany said Wednesday's talks were intended as an "inclusive" consultative process aimed at calming down the situation ahead of Ukraine's presidential election due on May 25.

Absent at Wednesday's talks were pro-Russian gunmen who in recent weeks seized buildings and fought Kyiv government troops across eastern Ukraine, leading up to disputed independence referenda last Sunday.

Turchynov (pictured center) said rebels must first lay down their arms before inclusion in the so-called "round-table" talks. Wednesday's round involved lawmakers, religious clerics and regional officials.

"We are ready to listen to the people of the east but they must not shoot, loot or occupy government buildings," said Turchynov, adding that armed individuals would instead "face justice."

Also absent was the influential Ukrainian industrial magnate Rinat Achmetov. In a video message, however, he called for Ukraine to be kept territorially intact.

Eastern Ukraine next, says Fule

EU enlargement commissioner Stefan Fule tweeted that the EU hoped the next meeting would take place in eastern Ukraine.

Visiting his French counterpart Laurent Fabius in Paris, German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier said "every day" of dialog leading up to Ukraine's election should be used to calm down the situation.

In Moscow, the Russian parliament's lower house speaker Sergei Naryshkin said the refusal of Kyiv to speak directly to its foes and its military operations in the east would undermine the legitimacy of Ukraine's May 25 election.

Failure to hold that poll would be even worse, Naryshkin added, saying it was necessary to "choose the lesser evil."

Moscow had previously called for Ukraine's vote to be postponed.

Interviewed on Bloomberg television, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said in eastern and southern Ukraine the former Soviet nation was "as close to civil war as you can get."

Referring to tensions between Russia and Western powers, Lavrov added that Moscow had no intention of sending its troops into eastern Ukraine as it did while annexing Ukraine's southern peninsula of Crimea in March.

European bank warns of recession

The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) warned on Wednesday that Ukraine risked plunging deeper into recession this year. Russia's economy was also at risk because of the crisis.

Hungary's nationalist Prime Minister Viktor Orban was visited on Wednesday by the head of the Russian concern Gazprom, Alexei Miller.

A statement issued by Orban's office referred to Russia's South Stream gas pipeline and said it had become a "key question" for future gas supplies to Europe.

The pipeline will bring Russian gas through southern Europe and bypass Ukraine.

Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev said on Wednesday that Russia would only restart gas talks with Ukraine if its new leaders paid off sums owing.

Moscow and Kyiv disagree on the price to be paid for each 1,000 cubic meters.

ipj/mz (Reuters, AP, dpa, AP, AFP)