Germany says violent language doesn't help in Ukraine crisis

Ukrainian opposition politician Yulia Tymoshenko (R) meets with European Union Enlargement Commissioner Stefan Fuele in Kiev March 26, 2014. REUTERS/Alexander Prokopenko/Pool

BERLIN (Reuters) - The German government has cautioned against the use of violent language in the Ukraine crisis in response to reports that the former prime minister Yulia Tymoshenko said in a leaked phone call that the Russian minority should be "nuked".

"Despite all the opposition to Russia's actions in Crimea and all differences of opinion even of a fundamental kind, there are limits to language and thought that must not be crossed," said Chancellor Angela Merkel's spokesman Steffen Seibert.