Zee Media Bureau/Supriya Jha
Kiev: Ukraine`s interim President Oleksandr Turchynov on Tuesday deferred till Thursday the vote on formation of a unity government, which was earlier scheduled for today.
Ukraine needs a new unity government at the earliest which can steer the country till elections are held on May 25.
Turchynov warned that a "serious threat of separatism" looms over Ukraine, the BBC reported.
The fears of separatism were sparked by some scuffles in pro-Russian areas of Ukraine, like Crimean Peninsula.
Also, a statement by Russian foreign ministry accused Ukraine of suppressing the pro-Russian dissents against Yanukovych`s ouster.
However, the Ukrainian foreign minister refuted such claims.
Meanwhile, Moscow has said that it would not interfere in Ukraine.
Earlier, Tuesday was the deadline was set by Turchynov for the formation of a unity government.
He had vowed that the country`s top priority would be to form a “government of the people” and return the nation on the path to European integration.
Meanwhile, the US has called for a technocratic government in Ukraine to facilitate early elections, the AFP reported.
White House Press Secretary Jay Carney on Monday stated that the US doesn`t recognise the ousted leader Viktor Yanukovych as the country`s President any more as even though he "was a democratically elected leader, his actions have undermined his legitimacy, and he is not actively leading the country at present``.
Speaking of Turchynov, Carney said that he was a lawfully elected speaker of the Ukraine Parliament, and that the US supported efforts to tackle the country`s political situation for "ensuring that the institutions of government are working". However, he stopped short of directly endorsing him as the country`s President.
An arrest warrant has been issued against Yanukovych for the mass murder of peaceful citizens. Yanukovych is in hiding and his whereabouts are officially unknown. However, the reports had on Sunday said that he was spotted in Crimean Peninsula which is an autonomus region inhabited mainly by Russian-speaking people.
Meanwhile, Russia blasted the former Soviet bloc over the ouster of pro-Russian leader Yanukovych, saying that he was forcefully toppled in what Moscow calls an “armed mutiny”.
Russian PM Dmitry Medvedev said that the new power wielding leaders of Ukraine will not be recognised by Russia as they were not legitimate.
"The legitimacy of a whole number of organs of power that function there raises great doubts," he said.
Medvedev also lashed out at the Western nations` misconception, saying, "Some of our foreign, Western partners think otherwise".
"This is some kind of aberration of perception, when people call legitimate what is essentially the result of an armed mutiny," said Medvedev.
The European Union and the Western nations like the US, UK have welcomed the changes in Ukraine.
The Ukrainian economy, according to the experts, has already plummeted to the pre-default conditions and needed a speedy solution to spare the nation a default.
British Foreign Secretary William Hague has called for an immediate need for the International Monetary Fund to prop up Ukraine’s economy.
Hague is also slated to meet US Secretary of State John Kerry in Washington on Tuesday to discuss financial support to Ukraine.
Also, the US has said that it will help Ukraine additionally besides the IMF loan.
Ukraine saw a flurry of brisk developments when on Saturday Yanukovych was ousted and his arch rival Yulia Tymosheko was freed from prison hospital.
The changes followed three months of unrest in Ukraine that began in November when Yanukovych pulled out of a trade deal with the EU under the influence of Russia.
