- Ukraine's acting PM dismisses Putin's call to postpone a referendum
- The United States worries Putin will landlock Ukraine, sources say
- NATO has "no indication" that Russia moved troops from Ukraine border, source says
- Putin earlier said Russian forces are "now not on the Ukrainian border"
Mariupol, Ukraine (CNN) -- Russian President Vladimir Putin said Wednesday that he wants a delay in a referendum on whether certain eastern Ukrainian residents want sovereignty from Kiev and that presidential elections scheduled for this month are "a step in the right direction."
But he said that the planned May 25 presidential vote Kiev wants to hold would "not solve anything unless all of Ukraine's people first understand how their rights will be guaranteed" once the election has taken place.
The comments, according to a transcript published by the Kremlin, came after Putin met with the chairman of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe.
Separatists in Ukraine's Donetsk region have scheduled a referendum for Sunday. Putin called for the delay "in order to give this dialogue the conditions it needs to have a chance."
Ukrainian Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk, right, inspects an armored personnel carrier in Slovyansk, Ukraine, on Wednesday, May 7. Ukraine has seen a sharp rise in tensions since a new pro-European government took charge of the country in February. Separatists in the east and the south, many of them of Ru! ssian descent, view the new government as illegitimate and have been taking over government buildings. 
An armed pro-Russian separatist takes a position by the railway lines near Slovyansk on Tuesday, May 6. 
A relative mourns by the body of 17-year-old Vadim Papura during a service in Odessa, Ukraine, on May 6. Papura died after jumping out of a burning trade union building during riots on May 2. 
A pro-Russian gunman holds his weapon while guarding the local administration building in Slovyansk on May 6. 
Pro-Russian supporters lead blindfolded men in front of the regional administration building in Donetsk, Ukraine, on Monday, May 5. 
Ukrainian policemen check documents at a checkpoint near the northeastern city of Izium, Ukraine, on May 5. 
Family members cry May 5 next to the coffin of regional parliament member Vyacheslav Markin, who was killed days earlier during clashes in Odessa. 
Ukrainian soldiers stand at a checkpoint near Slovyansk on May 5. 
Pro-Russian Cossacks sit outside the regional administration building in Donetsk on May 5. Separatists in Donetsk said they are preparing a referendum to ask residents whether they want sovereignty from Ukraine. 
Pro-Russian militants who were arrested during a Ukrainian unity rally are greeted on Sunday, May 4, after being freed by police in Odessa. The men released Sunday had been detained after bloody clashes in Odessa, which ended in a deadly blaze. Forty-six people were killed in the bloodshed. 
A pro-Russian militant reacts after being freed on May 4 in Odessa. 
Pro-Russian militants clash with police as they storm the police station in Odessa on May 4. 
An Orthodox priest, in front of the administration building in Donetsk, blesses a pro-Russian activist May 4 as people gather to honor the memory of fallen comrades in Odessa. 
Red carnations are left inside the burned trade union building in Odessa on May 4. Flowers, candles and photos of the dead piled up outside the charred building, a day after brutal clashes and the fire claimed 46 lives. 
Pro-Russian protesters light candles in Donetsk on Saturday, May 3, to honor the memory of fallen comrades in Odessa. 
A woman cries in front of the burned trade union building in Odessa on May 3. 
A man walks past burning tires near Kramatorsk, Ukraine, on May 3. 
Pro-Russian activists beat a pro-Ukraine supporter trying to save the Ukrainian flag that was removed from a flagpole outside the burned trade union building in Odessa. 
Pro-Russian protesters gather in Donetsk to honor the memory of comrades who died in Odessa. 
A portrait of Bolshevik leader Vladimir Lenin is part of a barricade in the center of Slovyansk on May 3. The city has become the focus of an armed pro-Russian, anti-government insurgency that aspires to give the eastern regions of Ukraine full autonomy. 
A pro-Russian activist sits in front of policemen guarding the burned trade union building in Odessa on May 3. 
People lay flowers and candles at the burned trade union building in Odessa on May 3. 
Ukrainian soldiers arrive to reinforce a checkpoint that troops seized Friday, May 2, in Andreevka, a village near Slovyansk. Two helicopters were downed Friday as Ukrainian security forces tried to dislodge pro-Russian separatists from Slovyansk, Ukraine's Defense Ministry said. 
Police take cover under shields as pro-Russian activists storm the prosecutor's office in Donetsk on Thursday, May 1. Eastern Ukraine was a heartland of support for President Viktor Yanukovych, who was ousted in February. 
A pro-Russian activist is wounded after storming the prosecutor's office in Donetsk and clashing with riot police on May 1. 
Pro-Russian activists storm the prosecutor's office in Donetsk on May 1. Police fired tear gas and stun grenades in an effort to disperse the activists. 
An injured Pro-Russian activist speaks with an armed protester during clashes with police in front of the regional administration building in Donetsk on May 1. 
Pro-Russian activists storm an administration building in the center of Luhansk, Ukraine, on Tuesday, April 29. 
Pro-Russia militants, armed with baseball bats and iron bars, hold flares as they attack people marching for national unity in Donetsk on Monday, April 28. 
Detained observers from the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe arrive to take part in a news conference Sunday, April 27, in Slovyansk. Vyacheslav Ponomarev, the self-declared mayor of Slovyansk, referred to the observers as "prisoners of war." 
Ukrainian troops stand guard behind a barricade made of sandbags at a checkpoint about 30 kilometers (20 miles) from Slovyansk on April 27. 
Relatives and friends of a man killed in a gunfight participate in his funeral ceremony in Slovyansk on Saturday, April 26. 
U.S. troops arrive at an air force base near Siauliai Zuokniai, Lithuania, on April 26. The United States is conducting military exercises in Poland, Latvia, Estonia and Lithuania. The exercises are, in part, a response to the ongoing instability in Ukraine. 
Ukrainian government troops in armored vehicles travel on a country road outside the town of Svyitohirsk in eastern Ukraine on April 26. 
Pro-Russia armed militants inspect a truck near Slovyansk on Friday, April 25. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has accused the West of plotting to control Ukraine, and he said the pro-Russia insurgents in the southeast would lay down their arms only if the Ukrainian government clears out the Maidan protest camp in the capital, Kiev. 
Pro-Russia militants keep records of their duty in Slovyansk on April 25. 
Ukrainian troops take position near burning tires at a pro-Russian checkpoint in Slovyansk on Thursday, April 24. 
Ukrainian special forces take position at an abandoned roadblock in Slovyansk on April 24. 
A Ukrainian special forces member takes position in Slovyansk. 
Cossacks carry a coffin into a church in Slovyansk on Tuesday, April 22, during a funeral for men killed in a gunfight at a checkpoint two days before. 
U.S. Vice President Joe Biden, left, talks with Ukrainian Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk during a meeting in Kiev on April 22. 
An armed pro-Russian man stands on a street in Slovyansk on Monday, April 21. 
Demonstrators attend a pro-Russian rally outside the secret service building in Luhansk on April 21. 
Cars are burned out after an attack at a roadblock in Slovyansk on Sunday, April 20. 
A resident inspects burnt-out cars at a roadblock on April 20. 
A pro-Russian militant is seen at the roadblock near Slovyansk on April 20. 
Armed pro-Russian militants stand guard at a roadblock near Slovyansk on April 20. 
A masked man stands guard outside a regional administration building seized by pro-Russian separatists in Slovyansk on Friday, April 18. 
People walk around barricades April 18 set up at the regional administration building that was seized earlier in Donetsk. 
Russian President Vladimir Putin speaks to the media after a nationally televised question-and-answer session in Moscow on Thursday, April 17. Putin denied that Russian forces are involved in the unrest in eastern Ukraine, though he did say for the first time that Russians were active in Crimea before the peninsula voted to join the country. 
Ukrainian riot police officers stand guard during a pro-Ukrainian demonstration in Donetsk on April 17. 
Masked pro-Russian protesters stand guard in front of the city hall in Mariupol, Ukraine, on April 17. 
U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry reaches out to shake hands with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov at the start of a bilateral meeting to discuss the ongoing situation in Ukraine. The meeting took place April 17 in Geneva, Switzerland. 
A masked gunman stands guard near tanks in Slovyansk on Wednesday, April 16. 
A Ukrainian helicopter flies over a column of Ukrainian Army combat vehicles on the way to Kramatorsk on April 16. 
A masked pro-Russian gunman guards combat vehicles parked in downtown Slovyansk on April 16. 
A man talks with Ukrainian soldiers as they are blocked by people on their way to Kramatorsk. 
Ukrainian soldiers sit atop combat vehicles on their way to Kramatorsk. 
Ukrainian Gen. Vasily Krutov is surrounded by protesters after addressing the crowd outside an airfield in Kramatorsk on Tuesday, April 15. 
Pro-Russian activists guard a barricade April 15 outside the regional police building that they seized in Slovyansk. 
Ukrainian troops receive munitions at a field on the outskirts of Izium on April 15. 
Armed pro-Russian activists stand guard on top of a Ukrainian regional administration building in Slovyansk on Monday, April 14. 
A pro-Russian activist carries a shield during the mass storming of a police station in Horlivka, Ukraine, on April 14. 
Russian supporters attend a rally in front of the security service building occupied by pro-Russian activists in Luhansk on April 14. 
A man places a Russian flag over a police station after storming the building in Horlivka on April 14. 
Men besiege the police station in Horlivka. 
The Horlivka police station burns on April 14. 
A Ukrainian police officer receives medical care after being attacked at the police station in Horlivka on April 14. 
Pro-Russian supporters beat a pro-Ukrainian activist during a rally in Kharkiv, Ukraine, on Sunday, April 13. 
Pro-Russian activists escort a man outside the secret service building in Luhansk on April 13. 
Pro-Russian protesters guard a barricade in Slovyansk on April 13 outside a regional police building seized by armed separatists the day before. 
Armed pro-Russian activists carrying riot shields occupy a police station in Slovyansk on April 12. 
A group of pro-Russian activists warm themselves by a fire Friday, April 11, in front of a Ukrainian Security Service office in Luhansk. 
Ukrainian Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk speaks April 11 during his meeting with regional leaders in Donetsk, Ukraine. Yatsenyuk flew into Donetsk, where pro-Russian separatists occupied the regional administration building and called for a referendum. 
Pro-Russian young men look over the fence of a military recruitment office in Donetsk on Thursday, April 10. 
Armed pro-Russian protesters occupy the Security Service building in Luhansk on April 10. 
Members of the self-proclaimed government the "Donetsk Republic" vote April 10 during a meeting at the seized regional administration building in Donetsk. 
Ukrainian lawmakers from different parties scuffle during a Parliament session in Kiev on Tuesday, April 8. 
Workers clean up on April 8 after pro-Russian separatists and police clashed overnight in Kharkiv. 
Pro-Russian protesters burn tires near a regional administration building in Kharkiv after police cleared the building on Monday, April 7. 
A masked man stands on top of a barricade at the regional administration building in Donetsk on April 7. 
Protesters wave a Russian flag as they storm the regional administration building in Donetsk on Sunday, April 6. Protesters seized state buildings in several east Ukrainian cities, prompting accusations from Kiev that Moscow is trying to "dismember" the country. 
Pro-Russian protesters clash with police as they try to occupy a regional administration building in Donetsk on April 6. 
Pro-Russian activists hold a rally in front of a Ukrainian Security Service office in Luhansk on April 6. 
A young demonstrator with his mouth covered by a Russian flag attends a pro-Russia rally outside the regional government administration building in Donetsk on Saturday, April 5. 
A Ukrainian soldier guards a road not far from Prokhody, a village near the Russian border, on April 5. Ukrainian and Western officials have voiced alarm about Russia's reported military buildup on Ukraine's eastern border. 
Ukrainian cadets at the Higher Naval School embrace a friend who has decided to stay in the school during a departure ceremony in Sevastopol, Crimea, on Friday, April 4. Some 120 cadets who refused to take Russian citizenship left the school to return to Ukraine. 
Soviet military veterans take part in a flower-laying ceremony at the Soviet-era World War II memorial in Sevastopol on Thursday, April 3. 
Ukrainian soldiers conduct a training session on the Desna military shooting range northeast of Kiev on Wednesday, April 2. 
Russian soldiers prepare for diving training in front of a Tarantul-III class missile boat Tuesday, April 1, in Sevastopol. 
People pass by barricades near the Dnipro Hotel in Kiev on April 1. 
People walk past a train loaded with Russian tanks Monday, March 31, in the Gvardeyskoe railway station near Simferopol, Crimea. 
A Russian solder sits in a tank at the Ostryakovo railway station, not far from Simferopol on March 31. 
Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev speaks about the economic development of Crimea during a meeting March 31 in Simferopol. 
Members of the Ukrainian National Guard take part in military exercises on a shooting range near Kiev on March 31. 
A woman cries Sunday, March 30, during a gathering to honor those who were killed during protests in Kiev's Independence Square. 
A woman and child walk past a line of police officers during a rally in Kharkiv on March 30. 
Ukrainian soldiers take part in a training exercise at a military base in Donetsk on Saturday, March 29. 
Demonstrators protest Friday, March 28, in Kiev, displaying police vehicles they seized during earlier clashes with authorities. 
Members of the Right Sector group block the Ukrainian parliament building in Kiev on Thursday, March 27. Activists called for Interior Minister Arsen Avakov to step down after the recent killing of radical nationalist leader Oleksandr Muzychko, who died during a police operation to d! etain him. Muzychko and the Right Sector are credited with playing a lead role in the protests that toppled Ukrainian President Victor Yanukovych. 
Ukrainian tanks are transported from their base in Perevalne, Crimea, on Wednesday, March 26. After Russian troops seized most of Ukraine's bases in Crimea, interim Ukrainian President Oleksandr Turchynov ordered the withdrawal of armed forces from the Black Sea peninsula, citing Russian threats to the lives of military staff and their families. 
Ukrainian marines wave as they leave a base in Feodosia, Crimea, on Tuesday, March 25. 
Russian sailors stand on the deck of the corvette ship Suzdalets in the bay of Sevastopol on March 25. 
Pro-Russian militia members remove a resident as Russian troops assault the Belbek air base, outside Sevastopol, on Saturday, March 22. After its annexation of Crimea, Russian forces have consolidated their control of the region. 
Soldiers in unmarked uniforms sit atop an armored personnel carrier at the gate of the Belbek air base on March 22. 
A Russian sailor holds the Russian Navy's St. Andrew's flag while standing on the bow of the surrendered Ukrainian submarine Zaporozhye on March 22 in Sevastopol. 
Russian President Vladimir Putin signs the final decree completing the annexation of Crimea on Friday, March 21, as Upper House Speaker Valentina Matviyenko, left, and State Duma Speaker Sergei Naryshkin watch. 
A Ukrainian serviceman leaves a Ukrainian military unit that Russian soldiers took control of in Perevalne on March 21. 
Ukrainian border guards run during training at a military camp in Alekseyevka, Ukraine, on March 21. 
Russian soldiers patrol the area surrounding a Ukrainian military unit in Perevalne on Thursday, March 20. 
Pro-Russian protesters remove the gate to the Ukrainian navy headquarters as Russian troops stand guard in Sevastopol on Wednesday, March 19. 
Pro-Russian forces walk inside the Ukrainian navy headquarters in Sevastopol on March 19. 
A member of pro-Russian forces takes down a Ukrainian flag at the Ukrainian navy headquarters in Sevastopol on March 19. 
Alexander Vitko, chief of the Russian Black Sea Fleet, leaves the Ukrainian navy headquarters in Sevastopol after pro-Russian forces took it over on March 19. 
A Russian flag waves as workers install a new sign on a parliament building in Simferopol, Crimea's capital, on March 19. 
Russian military personnel surround a Ukrainian military base in Perevalne on March 19. 
Nameplates on the front of the Crimean parliament building get removed Tuesday, March 18, in Simferopol. 
From left, Crimean Prime Minister Sergey Aksyonov; Vladimir Konstantinov, speaker of the Crimean parliament; Russian President Vladimir Putin; and Alexei Chaly, the new de facto mayor of Sevastopol, join hands in Moscow on March 18 after signing a treaty to make Crimea part of Russia. 
Demonstrators hold a Crimean flag at Lenin Square in Simferopol on March 18. 
Ukrainian soldiers stand guard at a checkpoint near Strilkove, Ukraine, close to Crimea on Monday, March 17. 
Former boxer and Ukrainian politician Vitali Klitschko addresses reporters in Kiev on March 17. 
Ukrainian troops stand guard in front of the Ukrainian Parliament building in Kiev on March 17. 
A Ukrainian man applies for the National Guard at a mobile recruitment center in Kiev on March 17. 
Civilians walk past riot police in Simferopol on March 17. 
A Ukrainian soldier stands on top of an armored vehicle at a military camp near the village of Michurino, Ukraine, on March 17. 
Policemen stand guard outside the regional state administration building in Donetsk during a rally by pro-Russia activists March 17. 
Armed soldiers stand guard outside a Ukrainian military base in Perevalne on March 17. 
A man holds a Crimean flag as he stands in front of the Crimean parliament building in Simferopol on March 17. 
Crimeans holding Russian flags celebrate in front of the parliament building in Simferopol on Sunday, March 16. 
A Ukrainian police officer tries to shield himself from a road block thrown by pro-Russia supporters in Kharkiv on March 16. 
Pro-Russia demonstrators storm the prosecutor general's office during a rally in Donetsk on March 16. 
A woman leaves a voting booth in Sevastopol on March 16. See the crisis in Ukraine before Crimea voted Photos: Crisis in Ukraine
Ukraine may be on brink of war
Anti-Putin rally draws crowd in MoscowHe said that direct talks between Kiev authorities and representatives of the pro-Russian sympathizers in southeast Ukraine were key to settling the escalating crisis.
Ukrainian interim Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk dismissed Putin's comments on the referendum as "hot air."
"There is no point in dealing in hot air, especially for the President of a big country. Since Russia is asking to postpone some referendum on May 11, I think the Russian President needs to be informed that there was no referendum planned on May 11 in Ukraine to begin with.
"But if terrorists and separatists supported by Russia got an order to postpone something that doesn't exist, then this is an internal matter," he said.
In March, voters in Ukraine's Crimea Peninsula approved a controversial referendum to secede from Ukraine and join Russia, which subsequently annexed the Crimea region. That event highlighted the turmoil rocking Ukraine.
Meanwhile, NATO has "no indication" that Russia has moved its troops from the Ukrainian border, a NATO military official said Wednesday on the condition of anonymity.
White House deputy press secretary Josh Earnest echoed that.
"There is not evidence to date that there has been a meaningful and transparent withdrawal of Russian forces from the Ukrainian border," he told reporters.
The comments came after Putin said Wednesday that Russian forces are "now not on the Ukrainian border but are carrying out their regular exercises at the test grounds." Putin spoke after a meeting with OSCE chairman Didier Burkhalter.
Also from the White House, President Barack Obama notified Congress he intends to withdraw Russia's eligibility for trade benefits under the Generalized System of Preferences.
"Russia is sufficiently advanced economically that it no longer warrants preferential treatment reserved for less advanced developing countries, consistent with the requirements of the GSP program," the White House said in a statement.
Violence in southeastern Ukraine
Also Wednesday, Putin spoke about the release of pro-Moscow movement leader Pavel Gubarev, who was arrested on March 6 for leading an occupation of the regional administration office.
"We welcome the release ... but we hope to see all the other political prisoners released, too. We think the most important thing now is to launch direct dialogue, genuine, full-fledged dialogue between the Kiev authorities and representatives of southeast Ukraine," he said.
Elsewhere, five pro-Russian activists were killed overnight when Ukrainian forces attacked barricades on the outskirts of Ukraine's southeastern city of Mariupol, a spokeswoman for the pro-Russian camp said. Ukrainian forces detained 15 other activists, Irina Voropaeva said.
The violence comes amid an escalation of tensions as Ukrainian forces seek to regain control of some of the administrative buildings seized by pro-Russian separatists in a swath of the country's south and east.
The activists briefly abandoned the Mariupol City Council building, according to Voropaeva.
But the security forces remained in the building for only a short time, saying they had been ordered to leave.
The activists re-entered, and Russian and regional flags went back up, to the cheers of the crowd outside.
Russia's president annexes ... words
Where unrest has occurred in E. UkraineWhere unrest has occurred in E. UkraineLater Wednesday, witnesses told CNN that Ukrainian forces dressed in black had fired over the heads of separatists who had gone to a Mariupol police station to demand the release of the 15 detained activists. The witnesses said several people were taken away in ambulances.
Elsewhere in the volatile Donetsk region, an uneasy standoff continued Wednesday between the Ukrainian military and the separatists.
Both sides clashed at the rebel stronghold of Slovyansk on Monday. Ukraine's security services said 30 "heavily armed" militants had been killed in recent days as part of the "anti-terrorist" operation in the area.
Referendum plan
As the tensions rise, uncertainty reigns.
The eastern Donetsk and Luhansk regions had said they would hold a referendum on autonomy Sunday, but there have been no visible preparations for a vote.
In Kiev, the interim government plans to hold presidential elections on May 25, but it acknowledges it has lost control of part of the country.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov on Tuesday said it would be "unusual" to hold a presidential election in the country when the army was being deployed against the population.
"In the situation where they use the army against their own population, it's quite unusual. This is not Afghanistan; this is a completely different situation," he said, adding that constitutional reforms promised by Kiev's new leaders would not be implemented in time for the vote.
Lavrov, speaking after a meeting of Council of Europe foreign ministers in Austria, also ruled out holding a second international meeting in a bid to defuse the crisis in Ukraine, saying that the provisions of a first international pact signed in Geneva, Switzerland, last month had yet to be put into force.
The agreement called on all parties to refrain from violence and required illegal armed groups to disarm and vacate seized public buildings.
'Gravest crisis'
Kiev and many in the West believe that the separatists are backed by Moscow and fear that Putin is fomenting trouble to increase his influence in the region.
In a briefing to U.S. senators on Tuesday night, the Obama administration provided a "sobering" assessment of Russia's intentions in Ukraine, including a concern that Putin will ultimately landlock the former Soviet nation, multiple sources on Capitol Hill and in the Pentagon said.
Russia now has its sights set on the southeastern port city of Odessa and will not allow it to stay under Ukrainian control because Moscow views it as too crucial to both trade and the resupply of Russian troops in the occupied Transnistria region of Moldova, the sources said. The ultimate goal would be to create a landlocked Ukraine.
In addition, the United States sees no letup in Moscow's direction of pro-Russian separatists and paramilitaries inside Ukraine and the continuing presence of Russian agents and special forces on the ground, the sources said.
But Moscow says that right-wing, ultranationalist groups are behind the violence in Ukraine and that it has no direct influence over the pro-Russian groups.
The rising tensions could have an impact far beyond Ukraine's borders, NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen warned Tuesday.
"Today we are facing the gravest crisis to European security since the end of the Cold War," he told reporters.
"But this is not just about Ukraine. This crisis has serious implications for the security and stability of the Euro-Atlantic area as a whole."
A week in eastern Ukraine
Ukraine crisis: Small numbers, global impact
CNN's Arwa Damon reported from Mariupol and journalist Lena Kashkarova from near Donetsk, while Laura Smith-Spark wrote from London. CNN's Jim Sciutto, Marie-Louise Gumuchian, Claudia Rebaza, Olga Pavlova, Kellie Morgan and Michael Martinez contributed to this report.
Source : http://www.cnn.com/2014/05/07/world/europe/ukraine-crisis/
