Senior Russian parliamentarians urged Ukraine on Sunday to sack its foreign minister for calling President Vladimir Putin a "dickhead" during a violent protest outside Russia's embassy in Kiev.
Acting Foreign Minister Andriy Deshchytsia tried to persuade protesters not to use violence at the rally on Saturday evening, during which the Russian flag was ripped up, vehicles overturned and stones and eggs thrown at the embassy.
"We must fulfil our international obligations, including defending the right of Russia to have an embassy in Ukraine," he told the protesters, angered by pro-Russian separatists shooting down a military cargo plane in east Ukraine, killing 49 people.
But challenged by the protesters, he added: "Did I say that I am against you protesting? I am for you protesting. I am ready to be here with you and say 'Russia, get out of Ukraine'."
"Yes, Putin is a dickhead, yes," he went on to say and the protesters responded by chanting the phrase.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, in a telephone call with his french counterpart on Sunday, "expressed outrage over the inaction of the Kiev authorities who allowed the rioting outside the Russian embassy," the ministry said in a statement.
Lavrov has protested to the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe about the violent rally at the embassy and the United States and the European Union have condemned it.
Alexei Pushkov, head of the Russian lower house of parliament's international affairs committee, said Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko should dismiss Deshchytsia.
"Poroshenko should change his foreign minister. He doesn't control himself very well," Pushkov said on Twitter, and went on to suggest in televised comments that Moscow should halt all dialogue with Kiev and cut off gas supplies to Ukraine.
Leonid Kalashnikov, Pushkov's deputy on the same committee, told Ekho Moskvy radio station in Moscow that Deshchystia came from the protest movement that toppled Ukraine's previous, Moscow-leaning president and did not know his "craft".
"I can't really imagine how anyone, especially a Russian representative, can sit down at the negotiating table with him after such an outburst," Kalashnikov said.
Ukraine's Foreign Ministry said arrests had been made after the rally, during which windows were smashed and a gate damaged, and that stabilising the situation in Ukraine depended on Moscow's "readiness to stop supporting terrorists" in east Ukraine.
Defending his actions, Deshchytsia told Ekho Moskvy that he had told the demonstrators they could protest peacefully but should not resort to violence.
Asked about his comment on Putin, he said: "I have told you what I want to say. You asked for my comments (on the rally), I've made my comments."
Gas dispute:
Ukraine and Russia failed to hold expected talks on a gas pricing dispute on Sunday morning, despite a deadline for Kiev to pay a $1.95 billion debt by Monday or have its gas supplies cut off.
Ukraine's Energy Ministry said it hoped the talks, being mediated by the European Union's energy commissioner, would resume later on Sunday but both sides said a time had not been agreed.
Halting deliveries to Kiev could disrupt the gas flow to the EU, which receives gas via Ukraine, but prospects for a breakthrough have been hit by armed clashes between government forces and pro-Russian separatists in east Ukraine.
Ukrainian and Russian officials failed to end the long-running dispute at talks in Kiev on Saturday but Ukrainian Energy Minister Yuri Prodan said after leaving the meeting that the discussions would continue on Sunday morning.
A spokesman for Russian natural gas producer Gazprom later said: "No time has been set for new talks."
Russia and Ukraine disagree how much Kiev should pay for the natural gas it receives from Russia and Gazprom plans to switch to an advance payment system if Kiev does not start paying its bills.
Ukraine has accepted a European Commission compromise proposal of $326 per 1,000 cubic meters of gas for an interim period. Moscow has offered Kiev a $100 reduction to $385, around the average amount paid by Russia's European clients.
Resolving the dispute and averting supply cuts could help ease tension over the separatist rising in east Ukraine, which Kiev blames on Moscow despite Russian denials that it is arming the rebellion.
Tensions are also high following Russia's annexation of Crimea after Ukraine's Moscow-leaning president was ousted and pro-Western leaders took over power.
NATO:
NATO is preparing measures to help Ukraine defend itself in its stand-off with Russia, and must adapt to the fact that Moscow now views it as an adversary, Secretary-General Anders Fogh Rasmussen said in an interview published on Sunday.
Kiev blames Moscow for the separatist rising in east Ukraine, where the death toll rose on Saturday after pro-Russian separatists shot down a Ukraine army transport plane, and tensions are also high following Russia's annexation of Crimea.
While NATO has made clear it has no plans to get involved militarily in Ukraine, it has sent fighter aircraft and ships to eastern Europe and Rasmussen said it was considering long-term measures to ensure the protection of its allies.
"We must adapt to the fact that Russia now considers us its adversary," Rasmussen told El Pais newspaper.
He said NATO was preparing an aid package to present to its members' foreign ministers at the end of this month that would include help for Ukraine to reform its defence sector and modernise its armed forces.
REUTERS