He said Ukraine is open to any possibility that leads to "concrete results," but he emphasized that "Crimea is and will be Ukrainian territory."
Deshchytsia called on Russia to refrain from blocking international observers seeking to enter Crimea.
U.S. President Barack Obama spoke with German Chancellor Angela Merkel Friday about the crisis in Ukraine.
The White House said in a statement the president agreed with European leaders on the need for Russia to pull back its forces, allow for the deployment of international observers and human rights monitors to Crimea, and support free and fair presidential elections in May.
Meanwhile, in a telephone conversation Friday with U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov warned the U.S. against taking any "hasty and reckless steps" that could harm Russian-American relations. Lavrov said the sanctions would hit the U.S. "like a boomerang."
Earlier Friday, armed men smashed a Russian military truck through the gates of a Ukrainian missile defense post in the Crimean peninsula, but they were not successful in taking control of the base.
Outside the base, men who appeared to be local pro-Russian militia members were reported to have roughed up journalists.
In Simferopol security footage appeared to show one man, reported to be a photographer, having a gun held to his head while his camera was seized, for having taken photographs of other journalists being beaten and robbed.
Also Friday, Ukraine's Interim President Oleksandr Turchynov signed a decree canceling a planned referendum on Crimea joining Russia.
A day earlier,Crimea's Moscow-backed legislature voted for the peninsula to become part of Russia and scheduled a referendum on the issue for March 16.
Ukraine's interim prime minister says that "no one in the civilized world" will recognize the referendum's results.
Arseniy Yatsenyuk says he wants to "warn separatists" and others he describes as "traitors of the Ukrainian state" that their decisions are "unlawful" and "unconstitutional." U.S. and European leaders also called the referendum illegal.
Crimean officials fired back Friday, saying the vote will go forward.
The speaker of Russia's upper house of parliament said Friday Russian lawmakers will support Crimea's decision if the Ukrainian region decides to join Russia. Tens of thousands of people turned out for a rally in the Russian capital to show solidarity with Crimea's pro-Russian authorities.
Ukraine and Russia have been locked in a tense standoff since Russian forces entered the Crimean peninsula a week ago.
Also Friday, Russian President Vladimir Putin's spokesman said he hoped that Russia and the West do not return to a period of tensions like the Cold War.
Source: Top Stories - Google News - http://ift.tt/1imaXrw
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