REPORT: UN envoy forced out of Crimea -ITN reporter

A crowd of pro-Russian activists recaptured the regional administration building in the eastern Ukrainian city of Donetsk on Wednesday, hours after they were ejected by police.
   
The crowd of about 200 protesters threw open the front doors and re-entered the building despite a heavy police presence after a day-long demonstration following their ejection from a building they had held since Monday.
   
Earlier on Wednesday Ukraine flew its flag atop the building, replacing a Russian flag that had flown there since Saturday. Donetsk has seen the most persistent of a wave of pro-Russian demonstrations that broke out in southern and eastern cities on Saturday as President Vladimir Putin was declaring Russia's right to invade.
   
Kiev says the protests have been arranged by Moscow to justify military intervention.

Ukrainian Prime Minister Arseny Yatseniuk said that Russia's deployment of forces in the Crimea region is having an "extremely negative" impact on the country's economy.   

He also said at the start of a government meeting that the situation in Ukraine remained difficult, with Russian forces in control of the Black Sea peninsula.   

"The Russian aggression on Ukraine's territory is having political and economic consequences," Yatseniuk said in remarks shown on television. "The presence of the Russian military on Ukraine's territory is having an extremely negative effect on Ukraine' economy."   

He gave no details but the new government is holding talks with the International Monetary Fund on financial assistance to avert bankruptcy.

For his part, Ukraine's Foreign Minister said he wanted to press for a peaceful solution to the conflict with Russia.

On arrival in Paris for international talks on the conflict, Andrii Deshchytsia said: "We want to say a few things to the Russians. We want to keep good dialogue and good relations with the Russian people. We want to settle this conflict peacefully and we don't want to fight the Russians".

This as Ukraine's top security official said he hoped the crisis in the Crimea region, where Russian forces have taken over buildings and military installations could soon be resolved through dialogue.

"Last night there were already fewer emergency situations and fewer conflicts in Crimea," Andriy Paruby, Secretary of Ukraine's Security and Defense Council, told reporters. "I hope that in the coming days a way will be found to solve everything through negotiations."
   
He said Russian forces had not made any new military gains in Crimea but warned of the danger of new attempts by pro-Russian protesters to take over government buildings in eastern and southern Ukraine.

In turn, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said that Russia cannot order pro-Russian armed groups in Ukraine's Crimea region to return to their bases because they are "self-defense" forces and do not answer to Moscow.

Western states are discussing a potential resolution to the crisis ignited by Russian intervention in Crimea under which Russia would pull back its forces to their bases on the Black Sea peninsula and allow in international monitors.
   
Speaking in Madrid in remarks shown on Russian television, Lavrov repeated Russia's assertion that armed men deployed there are not Russian forces, said Russian naval personnel were in normal positions and said it was up to Crimean and Ukrainian authorities to grant international observers access.

UN

A UN special envoy was forced to abandon a mission to Ukraine's Crimea region on Wednesday after being stopped by armed men and sheltering in a cafe, a reporter for Britain's ITN television said.
   
James Mates said envoy Robert Serry was trapped inside the coffee shop by a hostile pro-Russian crowd. When the envoy agreed to end his diplomatic mission, he was escorted to a car to the airport by police through a crowd shouting "Putin! Putin!"
   
UN Deputy Secretary-General Jan Eliasson said UN's Serry was not kidnapped but was seriously threatened.

Crimea is under control of Russian forces.
 
US

House of Representatives Republicans will work with U.S. President Barack Obama to address the crisis in Ukraine and tensions with Russia, voting soon on legislation offering financial aid, House leaders said on Wednesday.   

US House Majority Leader Eric Cantor told reporters that the Obama administration's request for a $1 billion loan guarantee package for Ukraine will move forward quickly and that a vote is expected soon. He said it should ultimately be offset by other savings.   

US House Speaker John Boehner added that the Republican-led House will work in a bipartisan way with Obama.

Germany

 Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble said Germany is ready to help Ukraine in its difficult phase and added that this would include financial assistance.   

The German government wants to do everything to solve this crisis without further escalation, Schaeuble said, adding: "We are ready and engaged to do everything to help Ukraine on its path in this difficult phase, including financially."

France

Presidential source told reporters at the Elysee presidential palace that French President Francois Hollande is holding a meeting of the US, Russian, British, French and German foreign ministers to discuss the Ukraine crisis.

The source said the meeting had already begun after the ministers, John Kerry, Sergei Lavrov, William Hague, Laurent Fabius and Frank-Walter Steinmeier appeared together at the palace.

Foreign ministers for the United States, Ukraine and Britain agreed that direct talks between Kiev and Moscow were crucial to resolving tensions and called for the immediate deployment of international monitors, they said in a joint statement.

REUTERS


To watch Nicole Hajal's report, please click on the VIDEO above