New Ukraine ministers proposed, Russian troops on alert

Former economy minister Arseny Yatseniuk gestures on the stage during a rally in Independence Square in Kiev, February 26, 2014. [Photo/Agencies]

UNPOPULAR DECISIONS

Oleksander Turchinov, now acting president, said the new government would have to take unpopular decisions to head off default and guarantee a normal life for Ukraine's people.

Unrest in Ukraine

The Euromaidan council's proposals must be approved by parliament, which meets on Thursday in an atmosphere heavy with memories of recent bloodshed, whose hundred or so victims are taking on the status of martyears.

Yanukovich fled Kiev on Friday night after days of violence in which scores of his countrymen were killed. The government says it believes he is hiding in Crimea. It wants him tried at the International Criminal Court in the Hague.

The council named career diplomat Andriy Deshchytsya as foreign minister. Oleksander Shlapak, a former economy minister and former deputy head of the central bank, was named as finance minister.

"This is a government which is doomed to be able to work only for 3-4 months ... because they will have to take unpopular decisions," Turchinov said.

If the new ministers are approved, that would pave the way for talks with the International Monetary Fund to stave off financial meltdown now that Russia is expected to cut off a $15 billion lifeline it offered Yanukovich when he turned his back on ties with the EU in November.

Kerry held out the possibility of providing $1 billion in US loan guarantees for Ukraine, as well as US budget support. He said Europe was also considering putting up roughly $1.5 billion in assistance for Ukraine.