Kiev Threatens to Use Force to End Standoff....Russia warns crackdown will provoke civil war

[link to online.wsj.com]

MOSCOW—Ukraine's top police official said Wednesday that the authorities were ready to use force to end the days-old occupation of government buildings by pro-Kremlin activists in the country's east.

"I think that a resolution of this crisis will be found in the next 48 hours," Interior Minister Arsen Avakov said at a cabinet meeting in the capital, Kiev. "There are two possible ways it can happen: either through the negotiation process or through forceful intervention."

Russia has warned that the use of force to dislodge the would-be separatists could provoke a civil war in Ukraine.

On Wednesday, Russian President Vladimir Putin ramped up the pressure on Ukraine's fledgling government by threatening to force it to pay in advance for natural gas supplies because of mounting debts.

"Our partners in Europe recognize the legitimacy of the current Kiev government but do nothing to support Ukraine—not a single dollar, not a single euro," Mr. Putin said in Moscow. "Russia doesn't recognize the legitimacy of the Kiev authorities but still continues providing economic support and subsidizing the Ukrainian economy with hundreds of millions and billions of dollars. Of course, this situation cannot last forever."

To that end,

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