- Foreign minister to meet in Switzerland to discuss Ukraine crisis
- Fresh violence erupted overnight in restive east
- Kiev interior ministry says military base attacked in Mariupol
(CNN) -- Foreign ministers from East and West will try to defuse the Ukraine crisis on Thursday, even as fresh violence erupted overnight in the restive east.
Thursday's talks in Geneva, Switzerland will bring the ministers of Russia, Ukraine and the United States together with the European Union's foreign policy chief to find ways out of the worst East-West crisis since the end of the Cold War -- where Kiev's embattled new leaders are struggling to reassert their authority in eastern towns largely controlled by armed pro-Russian separatists.
But even as diplomats descend on Geneva, the U.S. is talking more sanctions to punish Russia. Kiev and the West believe Moscow is stirring up the unrest.
"What I've said consistently is that each time Russia takes these kinds of steps that are designed to destabilize Ukraine and violate their sovereignty, that there are going to be consequences and what you've already seen is the Russian economy weaker, capital fleeing out of Russia," President Barack Obama told CBS.
In an ominous echo of the events that led to Moscow's annexation of Crimea last month, the Donetsk People's Republic wants a referendum no later than May 11, the self-declared chairman of the people's council told CNN on Thursday.
The referendum will essentially ask residents which country they want to be a part of, said Denis Pushilin.
Restive east
With Russian troops massed on the border with Ukraine, prospects of significant progress at the four-way talks appear slim. The talks also risk being upstaged by Russian President Vladimir Putin's annual televised Q&A session on Thursday.
With East-West relations at their worst since the Soviet Union collapsed more than 20 years ago, Washington and the EU have expressed concern about the 40,000 Russian troops that NATO says are assembled near the Ukrainian frontier.
Moscow, which annexed Ukraine's Crimea region last month, insists the troops are conducting exercises.
Since the ouster of pro-Moscow President Viktor Yanukovych in February after months of protests, Kiev's interim government has faced a wave of protests in the Russian-speaking east in recent weeks.
Pro-Moscow protesters flew the Russian flag on armored vehicles taken from the Ukrainian army on Wednesday. Six of them were driven into Slaviansk, one of the towns where public buildings have been seized.
It was not immediately clear whether they had been captured by rebels or handed over to them by Ukrainian deserters.
Russian Ambassador to the EU Vladimir Chizhov told CNN's Christiane Amanpour those Ukrainian soldiers "preferred to switch sides and join the people." Ukraine's Defense Ministry said the vehicles had been seized by militants.
In an overnight raid, an estimated 300 people attacked a Ukrainian military base in the country's southeast city of Mariupol, Interior minister Arsen Avakov said. Writing on his Facebook page, he said warning shots had been fired and a shootout then ensued. Three of the attackers were killed, 13 wounded and 63 others detained.
Clashes were ongoing.
CNN's Nick Paton Walsh contributed to this report
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