BRUSSELS (Reuters) - Russian President Vladimir Putin wants to - TopicsExpress

BRUSSELS (Reuters) - Russian President Vladimir Putin wants to destabilize Ukraines presidential election in May and has been preparing for possible military action in eastern Ukraine, Prime Minister Arseny Yatseniuk said. In an interview with Reuters, Yatseniuk, 39, said Putin wants to extend his hold on Ukraine outside the Crimea peninsula, which he took over earlier this month, into other areas where the majority of the countrys Russian speakers live. We have clear proof and evidence (that) Russian agencies hired a number of so-called protesters - or actually gangsters - with the task to trigger another cycle of violence in southern and eastern Ukraine, he said. They moved these militants from their bases in Transdnistria, he said, referring to the separatist, mainly Russian-speaking region on Ukraines border that broke away from Moldova in 1992 and sees Moscow as its patron. Such moves would be part of a plan by Putin, he said, to spark provocations ... and send his military to defend the Russian-speaking minority there. Russia wants to cancel the presidential election, divide Ukraine, and the ultimate goal of Russia is to eliminate Ukrainian independence, he said.