Merkel, Putin Agree on Preserving Ukraine Unity, U.S. Says Split in Nobody's Interest

German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Russian President Vladimir Putin agreed Sunday that Ukraine's "territorial integrity" must be ensured, the German government spokesman said, as the U.S. said it was in no one's interest to see Ukraine break apart.

Merkel spoke by phone with Putin and "both agreed that Ukraine must quickly get a government capable of acting and its territorial integrity must be preserved," Steffen Seibert said.

A day after Ukraine's three-month crisis culminated in parliament ousting the pro-Russian Viktor Yanukovych as president and calling new elections, Merkel and Putin also stressed the need for stability in Ukraine.

"They underline their common interest in the stability of the country in political and economic respects," Seibert said in a statement.

He said Merkel and Putin had agreed to remain in close contact.

Merkel also spoke to freed Ukrainian opposition leader Yulia Tymoshenko on Sunday and called on her to work to hold the country together as well as to approach the country's pro-Russian east, German government sources said.

The Ukrainian parliament appointed an interim leader Sunday but fears have arisen abroad over the future of the ex-Soviet state, with its people split between a pro-Russian east and a nationalist Ukrainian-speaking west pushing for closer ties with Europe.

Meanwhile, U.S. National Security Adviser Susan Rice said Sunday it was in no one's interest to see Ukraine break apart and called for calm.

A new era dawned in Ukraine when parliament appointed a pro-Western interim leader after impeaching a defiant president Viktor Yanukovych, whose whereabouts remain a mystery following a week of carnage after months of mostly peaceful protests.

"It's not in the interests of Ukraine or of Russia or of Europe or of the United States to see the country split," Rice told NBC's "Meet the Press" program. "It's in nobody's interest to see violence return and the situation escalate."

Asked about whether Ukraine's old master Russia could send in forces to restore the kind of government it would like to see in Kiev, Rice warned: "That would be a grave mistake."

"There is not an inherent contradiction... between a Ukraine that has long-standing historic and cultural ties to Russia and a modern Ukraine that wants to integrate more closely with Europe," she said. "It need not be mutually exclusive."

Rice said U.S. President Barack Obama, in his recent phone call on Ukraine with Russian counterpart Putin, addressed the issue of Ukrainian unity.

"The president's message was, look, we have a shared interest in a Ukraine that remains unified, whole, independent and is able to exercise the will of its people freely," she said.

"At that point, Putin was in agreement."

Rice reiterated Washington's stance that it wanted to see a de-escalation of violence, constitutional change and democratic elections "in very short order."

"This is not about the U.S. and Russia," she said in the exclusive interview.

"This is about whether the people of Ukraine have the opportunity to fulfill their aspirations and be democratic and be part of Europe, which they choose to be."