Ukraine’s acting prime minister is travelling to the east of the country to try to end a stand off with pro-Russia protesters.<\/p>\n
Arseniy Yatsenyuk will visit the city of Donetsk, where activists have declared a “people’s republic”.<\/p>\n
He will meet local leaders, including the governor of the Donetsk region and the mayor of the city.<\/p>\n
The trip comes amid rising tension between Russia and the US over Russian gas supplies and troop movements.<\/p>\n
Nato says up to 40,000 Russian troops are massed near Ukraine’s border.<\/p>\n
Energy ultimatum<\/strong><\/p>\n A spokesperson for Mr Yatsenyuk said he was expected to discuss transferring some powers to Ukraine’s regions.<\/p>\n Mr Yatsenyuk is also expected to travel to another eastern city, Dnipropetrovsk, which has also seen protests.<\/p>\n As well as the local government building seized in Donetsk, activists in Ukraine’s mostly Russian-speaking east are occupying a government building in the city of Luhansk.<\/p>\n Ukrainian officials are trying to negotiate a deal whereby the protestors would vacate the buildings in return for protection from prosecution.<\/p>\n Interior Minister Arsen Avakov had on Wednesday said he expected the situation in the east to be brought under control within 48 hours, by “negotiations or force”.<\/p>\n Kiev accuses Russia of orchestrating the unrest, as a provocation similar to the protests that gripped Crimea days before Russian troops annexed the peninsula last month. Russia denies the claim.<\/p>\n On Thursday, Russia’s President Vladimir Putin said gas supplies to Ukraine could be cut if Kiev did not pay off its debts, and warned this could affect gas deliveries to Europe.<\/p>\n Russian energy giant Gazprom says Ukraine owes it $2.2bn (\u00a31.2bn; 1.4bn euros) and recently doubled the price it must pay.<\/p>\n