AKIPRESS.COM - Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on Tuesday that the Kremlin won’t recognize Ukraine’s May 25 presidential election unless the Kiev government first submits to power-sharing talks with pro-Russian rebels in eastern Ukraine, The Manila Times reported.

Lavrov also insisted that Ukraine’s interim government in Kiev recall its armed forces fighting to retake the dozen towns and cities seized by the protesters who Ukrainian and Western leaders contend are armed and instigated by Moscow.

During a speech and news conference in Vienna, Lavrov underscored the Kremlin’s insistence that Ukraine’s embattled leaders agree to constitutional reform that would shift power from central authorities to the regions. Kiev’s European-allied government has expressed support for reconfiguring the governing structure of the country.

Ukrainian Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk has spoken in favor of constitutional reforms that would cede authority for economic and foreign policies to regional leaders. The issue of coupling a constitutional referendum with the presidential election in less than three weeks was debated by Ukrainian lawmakers Tuesday but rejected. Deputy Prime Minister Volodymyr Hroisman said that the complicated redrafting of Ukraine’s governing structure won’t be completed and ready for a public vote until late fall at the earliest.

Lavrov said it would be “more logical and fair” for Kiev authorities to postpone the presidential election until a new constitution can be written and endorsed by voters. “Holding elections at a time when the army is deployed against part of the population is quite unusual,” Lavrov observed.

Kremlin-allied separatists in Donetsk and Luhansk regions still plan a referendum Sunday on whether to restructure Ukraine to give more power to the regions and declare independence from Kiev.

Lavrov spoke during a gathering of the Council of Europe as fighting between Ukrainian government troops and Russia-allied separatists ground to a standoff in Slavyansk, a town of 125,000 that has been the focal point of the fighting.

An “anti-terrorist operation” launched weeks ago has made only limited progress in containing the pro-Russian gunmen.

Fighting intensified Monday and earlier Tuesday around Slavyansk. Interior Minister Arsen Avakov said via Facebook that 30 pro-Russian militants had been killed in the last two days and that four Ukrainian soldiers died in the battles.