Russia wants to start third world war, says Ukraine Prime minister Arseny Yatseniuk accuses Moscow of acting like a gangster by aiming to occupy Ukraine 'militarily and politically'.
Photograph: Gleb Garanich/Reuters
Reuters in Kiev
Friday 25 April 2014 11.11 BST
The Ukrainian prime minister, Arseny Yatseniuk, has accused Russia of wanting to start a third world war by occupying Ukraine "militarily and politically".
"The world has not yet forgotten world war two, but Russia already wants to start world war three," he told his interim cabinet in remarks broadcast live. "Attempts at military conflict in Ukraine will lead to a military conflict in Europe."
In some of the strongest language he has used so far during the crisis, Yatseniuk accused Moscow of acting like a gangster supporting terrorists.
"It is clear that Russia's goal is to wreck the election in Ukraine, remove the pro-western and pro-Ukrainian government and occupy Ukraine politically as well as military," he added.
Both sides have deployed troops close to their frontier.
Yatseniuk took office in February after pro-European protests prompted the Kremlin-backed president to flee to Russia.
Ukraine plans to hold an election on 25 May to replace Viktor Yanukovich, but the Russian-speaking east of the country has been disrupted by pro-Moscow militants who have taken over the city of Slavyansk and public buildings elsewhere, demanding to follow Crimea and be annexed by Russia.
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