Ukrainian PM says Putin's call to postpone separatist vote is hot air

UKRAINE (REUTERS) - Ukraine's Prime Minister Arseniy Yatseniuk dismissed as "hot air" Russian President Vladimir Putin's appeal to pro-Russian separatists in eastern regions to postpone a referendum on independence, the Interfax-Ukraine agency said.

Putin had called on the separatists to postpone the referendum, called for Sunday in an area where a string of cities have fallen under the control of militants Kiev and the West charge are inspired by Moscow and helped by Russian special forces.

Kiev has ruled the referendum illegal. "Yatseniuk on Putin's proposal to postpone the referendum in eastern Ukraine: There is no point in dealing in hot air," the brief Interfax-Ukraine bulletin said.

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