eastern ukraine. that comes as u.s. president president obama is warning of new sanctions against russia if moscow continues to violate ukraine s sovereignty. cnn s correspondent jim sciutto has our report. reporter: kiev, counteroffensive in eastern ukraine stalled just as it started. in slaviansk, pro-russians stormed the area, waving the russian flag. they blocked the armored vehicles rolling into that city. ukraine s defense ministry later forced to admit the vehicles had been seized by pro-russian militants. even as it faltered, russia s foreign minister called the crackdown illegal. we ll ease the situation and make it so that the government in kiev views with respect the demands of ukrainian citizens who live in the east.
and russia. reporter: keev s counteroffensive in eastern ukraine stalled just as it start start. militants, waving the russian flag, protesters blocked a column of ukrainian armored vehicles rolling into the city. ukraine s defense ministry forced to admit the vehicles had been seized russian s foreign minister calls the ukrainian s military attempted crackdown illegal. translator: we ll ease the situation. we will make it so that the government in kiev views with respect the opinions and commands of ukrainian citizens in the southeast. reporter: it s been warned ukraine is on the brink of civil war. the u.s. continues to place the blame for the instability firmly on moscow. any destabilization that s going on inside ukraine right now is a direct result of russian action there, so it s ironic to me they seem concerned