Vladimir Putin has said he is "very worried" about events in eastern Ukraine, where pro-Russian militants are occupying government buildings in defiance of a warning from Kiev to stand down.
The Kremlin has responded to a request for help from a separatist leader in Slavyansk, where at least two people were killed in clashes with Ukrainian forces on Sunday.
Mr Putin's spokesman Dmitry Peskov said: "Unfortunately, there are a great many such appeals coming from the eastern Ukrainian regions addressed directly to Putin to intervene in this or that form.
"The president is watching the developments in eastern Ukraine with great concern."
Armed men are occupying numerous government buildings across eastern Ukraine despite the passing of a deadline set by Ukraine's acting president Oleksandr Turchynov for protesters to lay down their weapons.
Militants have seized buildings in key eastern cities Mr Turchynov also threatened a "large-scale anti-terrorist operation" to reclaim the east, although there is no sign of that as yet.
The eastern city of Horlivka became the latest city to be targeted on Monday, when at least 100 armed men entered a police station and forced riot officers to withdraw from the area.
They were seen smashing windows, ransacking the building and setting up barricades in footage beamed around the world via a live stream online.
Burning tyres at a checkpoint in Slavyansk Protesters in Ukraine's east, which has a large ethnic Russian population, hope to follow in the footsteps of the Crimean Peninsula and force a referendum on joining the Russian Federation.
The area was a strong bastion of support for ousted President and Kremlin ally Viktor Yanukovych and many residents fear they will be suppressed under the new Western-friendly interim government in Kiev.
In the eastern city of Mariupol, Sky News Moscow Correspondent Katie Stallard said separatists occupying a council building have had assurances that police in the city are "on their side".
She said: "They are paying no heed whatsoever to this deadline from the acting president."
Pro-Russian forces have asked Vladimir Putin to help them President Turchynov earlier claimed he had no objection to holding a referendum in the region as he was confident the majority of Ukrainians would support an "independent, democratic and unitary Ukraine".
His office also asked the United Nations to send peacekeepers to help conduct a "joint anti-terrorist operation" to oust armed separatists.
This may prove hard to achieve, however, as a peacekeeper deployment would have to be authorised by the UN Security Council, in which Russia holds a veto.
Western leaders have joined Ukraine's interim government in alleging that Russia has orchestrated the unrest to justify expanding its military control beyond Crimea, although Russia strenuously denies the allegations.
Hundreds of civilians came out in support of the activists in Slavyansk European Union foreign ministers, currently holding a crisis meeting in Luxembourg, have pledged up to 1 billion euros ($1.4 billion) in emergency loans to help Ukraine's struggling economy. They followed the US signing of a $1bn-loan guarantee to Ukraine.
EU foreign ministers also warned of further sanctions against Russia.
Ahead of the meeting Foreign Secretary William Hague said denials of Russian involvement did not have "a shred of credibility".
He said: "There can't be any real doubt that this is something that has been planned and brought about by Russia.
"The forces involved are well-armed, well-trained, well-equipped, well-coordinated, behaving exactly the same way as what turned out to be Russian forces behaved in Crimea before the full Russian military takeover of Crimea."
The West also claims that up to 40,000 Russian troops are massed near the Ukraine border, in addition to the 25,000 "illegally" in Crimea.
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