Britain wanted the EU to send a "very clear message of support" through technical and economic assistance to Ukraine, British Minister of State for Europe David Lidington said ahead of an EU Foreign Affairs Council meeting Monday.
"I hope that we will be able to send a very clear message that the way forward is for there to be direct contact between the governments of Russia and Ukraine," Xinhua quoted Lidington as saying in a statement on arrival at the EU body in Brussels.
British Foreign Secretary William Hague Monday labelled the current situation in Ukraine as the "biggest crisis" in Europe in this century during his visit to Kiev for talks with the new Ukrainian government.
Russian President Vladimir Putin told US President Barack Obama over the phone Saturday that Russia reserves the right to protect its interests and Russian speakers living in Ukraine if violence spreads in eastern Ukrainian regions and Crimea.
