Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych planned to meet on Tuesday with the main candidates for the post of prime minister, Arseniy Yatsenyuk and Sergei Tigipko, presidential deputy chief of staff Anna German said.

The U.S. Embassy in Kyrgyzstan denied on Tuesday that Washington was seeking to establish a military base in the south of the Central Asian state, saying it was funding a training center for Kyrgyz troops.

In a rare albeit implicit criticism of its U.S. counterparts, Moscow indicated on Tuesday that a new Russian-U.S. arms reduction deal could have been prepared earlier if negotiators had followed the principles laid out by the two sides.

Russian President Dmitry Medvedev on Tuesday instructed the Defense Ministry to hold talks with South Ossetia on signing an agreement on a Russian military base in the former Georgian republic.

A similar agreement was signed in Moscow on February 17 with Abkhazia, another former Georgian republic.

The agreement was concluded during Kremlin talks between President Medvedev and his Abkhazian counterpart, Sergei Bagapsh, who arrived in Moscow on his first visit since his reelection as president of the tiny region on the Black Sea.

According to the agreement, the base will "protect Abkhazia's sovereignty and security, including against international terrorist groups."

The agreement with Abkhazia was signed for a period of 49 years with the option of its extension by 15-year periods, despite fierce criticism from Tbilisi and Western nations.

Moscow recognized the independence of the two former Georgian republics in August 2008 after a five-day war to repel an assault by U.S. ally Georgia on South Ossetia.

Georgia has fiercely criticized the plans for the bases in Abkhazia and South Ossetia, which it considers part of its territory.

Russia's military buildup in the region since the armed conflict has also been condemned by the West as running counter to international law and contravening the internationally brokered ceasefire agreement signed by Russia and Georgia in the wake of their August 2008 conflict.

However, Medvedev said after signing an agreement on the military base with Abkhazia that the deal and a host of other agreements signed in the Kremlin were in line with Russia's international commitments.

RIA Novosti

The Russian Foreign Ministry hopes that Russia and the European Union will articulate their visions of a mutual visa-free regime during the forthcoming Russia-EU summit.

Yulia Tymoshenko, Ukraine's former prime minister whose government was dismissed last week, called on Tuesday for the country's democratic forces to unite against the new Ukrainian authorities.

The Ukrainian parliament on Tuesday passed a law to ease the rules for forming a majority coalition in parliament, a priority task needed to avert political instability in the country.

The Russian Public Chamber on Tuesday asked Moscow city authorities to abandon plans to decorate the city with Joseph Stalin billboards for the 65th Victory Day celebrations.

Yulia Tymoshenko whose government was dismissed by Ukraine's parliament on Wednesday has criticized President Viktor Yanukovych's plans to create a gas transportation consortium.

Russian President Dmitry Medvedev will meet with Swedish Prime Minister Fredrik Reinfeldt in Moscow on Tuesday to discuss bilateral ties and international issues.