Russian President Vladimir Putin spoke to German Federal Chancellor Angela Merkel on the phone on Sunday, the Kremlin press service said.
"Due to the concern expressed by Merkel over the developments in Crimea and Ukraine as a whole, Putin called her attention to the outstanding threat of violent actions of ultra-nationalist forces, which endanger the life and lawful interests of Russian citizens and the entire Russian speaking population. It was stressed that measures taken by Russia were fully adequate to the extraordinary situation," the report said.
"Putin and Merkel agreed to continue consultations both in the bilateral [between the foreign ministries] and multilateral formats with the purpose of assistance in the sociopolitical normalization in Ukraine," the Kremlin said.
Russia does not want a war with Ukraine and is prepared to support all forces in that country that advocate stronger relations between Moscow and Kiev, Russian State Secretary - Deputy Foreign Minister Grigory Karasin said. Read more>>>
More servicemen of the Ukrainian Armed Forces are moving under the jurisdiction of the government of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea, a Crimean administration member told Interfax-AVN on Monday. Read more>>>