The United States piled the pressure on Russia today over its actions in Ukraine, where the authorities are mobilising tens of thousands of police for a presidential vote threatened by the bloody insurgency gripping the east.
Vice President Joe Biden threatened further sanctions on Moscow if it disrupts Sunday's presidential ballot, seen as crucial to prevent all-out civil war on Europe's doorstep.
But just days ahead of the vote, violence appears to have tapered off in the east, where the Ukrainian army has been battling for almost six weeks to crush the pro-Moscow rebellion.
The people of the east "are starting to understand that the separatist terrorists are leading the region to the abyss," interim President Oleksandr Turchynov said on his first visit to the flashpoint city of Slavyansk.
In a key step demanded by the West to ease tensions, Russia said its troops were packing up and moving away from the Ukrainian border, although Washington and NATO insist they have seen no sign of any pullback.
"If Russia undermines these elections on Sunday, we must remain resolute in imposing greater costs," Biden told reporters in Romania.
"All countries should use their influence to promote a stable environment for Ukrainian citizens to cast their ballots freely."
Ukraine said it will deploy 55,000 police and 20,000 volunteers to try to ensure security on polling day.
Biden also praised Kiev's pro-Western government for taking "steps to engage Ukrainians, from all parts of that country, in the east and the south, on issues of constitutional reform".
In tandem with a military offensive against the rebels now in control of swathes of the eastern coal and steel belt, the government today held another round of national unity talks under a Europe-backed peace plan.
The OSCE-sponsored roadmap aims to unite a country now fighting for its very survival after the ouster of a Kremlin-backed government in February exposed festering tensions between Russian speakers in the east and more nationalist pro-Europeans.
Two previous round-table sessions failed to make any progress, with the new government in Kiev still refusing to invite the separatists.
