 Image copyright Reuters Image caption Some 56 people have now been released from the state security service in Luhansk, officials say 
 
 Ukraine's interior minister has warned pro-Russian activists who have taken over state buildings in eastern cities to enter talks to find a political solution or face "force". Interior Minister Arsen Avakov said the standoff in Luhansk and the two neighboring Russian-leaning regions of Donetsk and Kharkiv must be resolved within the next two days either through negotiations or through the use of force, the Interfax news agency reported. In the city protesters dug in for their third day at the 11-story... (Associated Press) 
 
 The Luhansk security services building was among several government offices seized by pro-Moscow groups Sunday in an escalation of protests against the interim government in power since the ouster of President Viktor Yanukovych in February. The EU, Russia, US and Ukraine are to meet next week in the first four-way meeting since the crisis erupted. "The daily activity of Russian troops on national territory does not threaten the security of the U.S. or other member states of the OSCE," the Russian statement said. "The regime of anti-terrorist operation in all three regions is still in force and we can begin carrying out all planned actions at any moment," Avakov was quoted as saying. REUTERS/Maks Levin 
 
 “For those who want dialogue, we propose talks and a political solution. For the minority who want conflict they will get a forceful answer from the Ukrainian authorities,” he said. On Tuesday, security services said separatists inside the building, armed with explosives and other weapons, were holding 60 people hostage.  LUHANSK, Ukraine (AP) — Ukraine's Security Service said Wednesday that 56 people held inside the agency's local headquarters in the eastern city of Luhansk by pro-Russian separatists have been allowed to leave. Overnight, speakers at a gathering in front of the building condemned the government in Kiev and renewed demands to be allowed to hold a referendum on declaring autonomy for their region. Serhiy Tyhipko, a lawmaker associated with the previous Ukraine government and who is now in opposition, said he was able to enter the seized building Tuesday night and claimed there were no hostages inside. FORCEFUL ANSWER’ 
 
 Protesters in Donetsk, to the south, remain in control of the main regional authority building, but authorities have ended the occupation in the city of Kharkiv. "This should be resolved peacefully, he said. U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry accused Russian agents and special forces on Tuesday of stirring up separatist unrest and said Moscow could be trying to prepare for military action as it had in Crimea. Kiev and its allies accuse Moscow of fomenting unrest in the mainly Russian-speaking east of the country as a pretext to possibly seizing more territory - a claim strongly refuted by Russia. Russia denied the accusations on Wednesday and dismissed concerns over a troop buildup near the border with Ukraine in what has become the worst East-West crisis since the end of the Cold War in 1991.
– Pro-Russia protesters are bolstering their defenses in eastern Ukraine as Kiev threatens to use force to settle the situation. "A resolution to this crisis will be found within the next 48 hours," Ukraine's interior minister says, per Reuters. "For those who want dialogue, we propose talks and a political solution. For the minority who want conflict, they will get a forceful answer from the Ukrainian authorities." The separatist protesters, meanwhile, have built gasoline bombs and installed barricades of tires and crates around a seized security building in the eastern city of Luhansk. The separatists had been holding 60 people hostage, according to Ukrainian security services; they've now let 56 people leave, though it's not certain if those who have left were part of the reported 60, the AP notes. Protesters are also holding a building in the city of Donetsk; in Kharkiv, Ukrainian forces have retaken another site, they say, via the BBC. John Kerry says Russia is "the catalyst behind the chaos of the last 24 hours," and German leader Angela Merkel says it's "not clear that Russia is contributing to a de-escalation of the situation." For its part, Russia says the US and Ukraine "have no reason to be worried," Reuters notes. Despite a direct appeal from a separatist leader in Luhansk for Vladimir Putin to "have mercy on your fighters," Putin says Russia doesn't plan to invade, but says it has the right to stand up for its interests.