Vladimir Putin spoke with Angela Merkel by telephone on Sunday about the situation in Ukraine. According to a statement on the chancellor’s website, both leaders agreed that Ukraine’s “territorial integrity must be respected.”
President Viktor F. Yanukovych has fled the Ukrainian capital. He was removed from power by a unanimous vote in Parliament, lawmakers moved swiftly on Sunday to dismantle his government by firing top cabinet members, including the foreign minister.
The defense minister, Pavlo Lebedev told Ukraine’s Channel 24 that he intended to remain in his post.
Parliament voted to grant Oleksandr Turchynov, the Speaker, authority to carry out the duties of the president of Ukraine.
Speculation about a major role for the freed former prime minister, Yulia V. Tymoshenko, was squashed on Saturday afternoon when she issued a statement asking not to be considered for the post again.
EU officials recall her period as prime minister after Ukraine’s 2004/5 pro-democracy Orange Revolution as hardly less corrupt than Yanukovich’s tenure. Ukraine is 144th on watchdog Transparency International’s index of perceived corruption.
“Political uncertainty has arguably increased – including around the outcome of the presidential election set for 25 May – bringing with it a potential increase in the probability of a sovereign default,” Nomura political analyst Alastair Newton said.
France and Germany’s Merkel are both quite cool on the EU enlargement. Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk, whose country played a central role in the negotiations, is not.
The EU has found it politically difficult enough to bail out its own members during the bloc’s debt crisis. Spending on an outsider will be more fraught still.