From WSJ:
Ukrainian police on Tuesday regained control of a government building occupied by pro-Russian separatists in one volatile eastern city, while similar protests in another appeared to be slipping into disarray.
Lawmakers from opposing sides in Ukraine’s parliament threw punches and shoved each other as tensions continued to rise in eastern Ukraine. Photo: AP
As the new government in Kiev sought to demonstrate its authority, Russia warned that the use of force to dislodge demonstrators who had taken over government offices in eastern Ukraine could plunge the country into civil war.
Ukrainian officials and others have accused Russia of instigating the protests that began Sunday in Donetsk, Kharkiv and Luhansk, suggesting that their powerful neighbor is trying to orchestrate a takeover similar to its incursion andannexation of Crimea.
In Washington, U.S. Secretary of StateJohn Kerry said Russia’s “clear and unmistakable involvement” in encouraging the antigovernment protests in Ukraine was deeply disturbing.
“Quite simply, what we see from Russia is an illegal and illegitimate effort to destabilize a sovereign state and create a contrived crisis with paid operatives across an international boundary,” Mr. Kerry told members of a Senate committee.
Ukrainian officials have vowed to subdue the secessionists. Interior Minister Arsen Avakov said Tuesday morning that an “antiterrorist” operation had been launched in Kharkiv and around 70 separatists who had control of the regional administration building had been arrested.
I remain concerned about the turn of events and think it is of a magnitude to disrupt markets (of we’re not already seeing it).
