KIEV, March 20 - Russian President Vladimir Putin wants to destabilize Ukraine's presidential election in May and has been preparing for possible military action in eastern Ukraine, Prime Minister Arseny Yatseniuk said.

In an interview with Reuters, Yatseniuk, 39, said Putin wants to extend his hold on Ukraine outside the Crimea peninsula, which he took over earlier this month, into other areas where the majority of the country's Russian speakers live.