Updated April 17, 2014 7:11 a.m. ET
Russian President Vladimir Putin told a live Russian TV show he hopes he doesn't have to send Russian troops into Ukraine but hasn't ruled it out, accusing the Kiev government of committing "a serious crime" by using the military to quell unrest.
MOSCOW—Russian President Vladimir Putin said Thursday he hoped not to send Russian troops into Ukraine but didn't rule it out, accusing the Kiev government of committing "a serious crime" by using the military to quell unrest.
Speaking during an annual televised event in which he takes questions from the public, Mr. Putin said the situation in the east—where pro-Russian militants have seized control of 10 cities—could only be resolved through dialogue. He said he held out hope a compromise could be reached in four-way talks being held later Thursday in Geneva.
Mr. Putin's comment came following a clash overnight that left three pro-Russian protesters dead and 13 wounded, the bloodiest conflict yet in a military operation launched by Kiev.
Photos: Pro-Russian Protesters Killed in East Ukraine
A man was injured during the attack. ZUMAPRESS.com
He noted he had been authorized by Russia's parliament in early March to use force in Ukraine if necessary, "but I really hope that I do not have to exercise this right, and that through political and diplomatic means we will be able to solve the most acute problems in Ukraine today."
Mr. Putin's comments served to explain the Kremlin's position to a more receptive domestic audience. They came a day after his spokesman complained that Western media had failed to give proper credence to Russia's version of events, saying the country faced a "concrete wall of censorship."
Kiev is engaging in its first direct talks with Moscow at a meeting with envoys from the U.S. and European Union in Geneva on Thursday.
Moscow has deployed tens of thousands of troops on its border with Ukraine, and has repeatedly said it could send them into Ukraine to protect the local ethnic population.
Mr. Putin said Ukraine's military effort showed the new government in Kiev was making no effort to respond to the demands of those in the heavily ethnic-Russian region.
"Instead of realizing that something has gone wrong in Ukraine and making attempts to start dialogue, they have intensified their threats to use force and have even decided to send tanks and aircraft against the civilian population," Mr. Putin said. "It is another very serious crime on the part of the current Kiev authorities."
Ukraine has accused Russia of sending agents into the region to foment unrest in an effort to slice off another piece of Ukrainian territory after annexing Crimea last month. But Mr. Putin insisted that Russia has no forces present in the country.
"Such claims are nonsense," he said.
He did, however, acknowledge for the first time that Russian troops had moved into Crimea ahead of a secession vote in order to protect "the expression of free will" in the region.
Ukraine's military operation in the east has gotten off to a stuttering start, with armored columns stopped in their tracks by angry mobs of civilians, and militants hijacking military vehicles. Until the overnight deaths, the Ukrainian forces had avoided bloody clashes.
The three pro-Russian protesters were killed early Thursday in the southeastern Ukraine city of Mariupol. The attack began late Wednesday, when around 300 people tried to storm a national guard base in the coastal city after the guards there refused the crowd's demand to lay down their weapons and switch sides. The protesters then opened fired on the guards and began hurling Molotov cocktails, Ukraine's Interior Minister Arsen Avakov said.
Interior Ministry police, special forces commandos and the state security service joined in the response and "after a short battle, the gang of attackers was dispersed and disarmed," Mr. Avakov said.
No one among the Ukrainian forces was hurt, he said. Police arrested 63 protesters and seized a large cache of weapons, and were patrolling the streets in the city Thursday morning in an effort to restore order, Mr. Avakov added.
Russia's President Vladimir Putin gives his annual televised question-and-answer session with the nation in Moscow on Thursday. Agence France-Presse/Getty Images
Pro-Russian partisans took control of the Mariupol city council over the weekend as part of a wave of government building seizures in eastern cities where armed militants demanded a referendum on granting the region greater independence.
Mr. Putin said that people in eastern Ukraine should be allowed to choose their own leaders and urged the Kiev authorities to release protest leaders who have been arrested. Ukraine's acting President Oleksandr Turchynov said this week that a referendum could be held alongside a May 25 presidential election vote that could pave the way for greater regional autonomy.
"People in the east are talking about federalization. Kiev is talking, thank God, about decentralization. What's behind these words? It's necessary to sit at the negotiating table, try to understand what's being implied and find a solution," Mr. Putin said. "Order in the country can be established only through a dialogue, in the course of democratic procedures, rather than through the use of the armed forces."
Write to Lukas I. Alpert at lukas.alpert@wsj.com and Andrey Ostroukh at andrey.ostroukh@wsj.com
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