Lavrov Urges Ukraine Opposition Cooperation, Germany Wants to 'Avoid Escalation'

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov in a phone call to his German counterpart Frank-Walter Steinmeier called for the European Union to encourage the opposition to cooperate with the authorities.

Steinmeier is heading to Ukraine on Thursday with the French and Polish foreign ministers before emergency talks among EU ministers in Brussels.

Russian deputy prime minister Dmitry Rogozin is also set to visit Kiev Thursday, Russian deputy foreign minister Grigory Karasin said, cited by the Interfax-Ukraine news agency.

Lavrov "called for partners in the European Union to use their close and daily contacts with the opposition to urge them to cooperate with the Ukrainian leadership", the Russian foreign ministry said on its website.

Lavrov said the opposition should respect the agreements it made with the Ukrainian government and distance itself from "radical forces who have unleashed bloody riots and essentially embarked on the path to a coup d'etat".

His comments appeared to be a change of strategy since he had earlier on Wednesday accused Western powers of meddling in Ukrainian affairs.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel, meanwhile, said she had spoken with Russian President Vladimir Putin and the two had agreed "to do everything to avoid an escalation of violence" in Ukraine.

Merkel said she had "informed" Putin of plans to send the foreign ministers of Poland, Germany and France to Kiev on Thursday morning.

"We have decided to stay in very close contact with Russia," she said, adding that "everything must be done to launch a political process" in Ukraine.

Merkel was speaking alongside French President Francois Hollande and European Commission chief Jose Manuel Barroso after talks in Paris.

Barroso said he had spoken to Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych and urged him to engage in a "sincere and constructive political dialogue with the opposition".

He said he had told Yanukovych that "violence is not the answer" to Ukraine's political crisis.

"I have hope that president Yanukovych can have a real answer to these very strong messages from the European Union," Barroso said.