KIEV (REUTERS) - Russia's deployment of forces in the Crimea region is having an "extremely negative" impact on the country's economy, Prime Minister Arseny Yatseniuk said on Wednesday.

He also said at the start of a government meeting that the situation in Ukraine remained difficult, with Russian forces in control of the Black Sea peninsula.

"The Russian aggression on Ukraine's territory is having political and economic consequences," Mr Yatseniuk said in remarks shown on television.

"The presence of the Russian military on Ukraine's territory is having an extremely negative effect on Ukraine' economy."

He gave no details but the new government is holding talks with the International Monetary Fund on financial assistance to avert bankruptcy.