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Ukrainian oligarch: U.S. "should use all" against Russia

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Petro Poroshenko Alain Jocard/AFP/Getty Images
One of the key people behind the revolution in Ukraine says the U.S. should use "all instruments" to respond to Russia's military presence in his country. Petro Poroshenko, a billionaire and the former Ukrainian foreign minister appears in an interview with Clarissa Ward. Ward's story about the people behind the revolution that resulted in the parliamentary ouster of President Viktor Yanukovych and the subsequent Russian takeover of Crimea, will be broadcast on 60 Minutes, Sunday, March 9 at 7 p.m. ET/PT.

Ukraine is at a standoff with the more powerful Russia, which claims it's put its military in the country to protect pro-Russian people, especially in Ukraine's southern peninsula of Crimea. "America should use all instruments ...[at] their disposal to stop the war." Pressed by Ward whether he means military force, he replies, "all instruments."

Many believe rich people like Poroshenko are behind the revolution and that they have their own business interests in mind. He denies this, but says his country's investment climate was ruined by Yanukovych and his corrupt cronies, setting it back years and angering the masses. "This was not the movement led by the politician...not a movement organizing by the oligarch, which is completely not true," he tells Ward. "This is the first time in our history, people go in the street in millions...demanding the modernization of the country."

Outside the capital, Kiev, Ward goes to Yanukovych's former home, an opulent symbol for what the Ukrainian people were revolting against. A veritable palace built with money he is accused of gaining corruptly. The revolutionary government claims that billions of dollars are missing from Ukraine's treasury. In Kiev, she reports from the Maidan, the revolution's epicenter, where thousands still camp out, many to honor the deaths of fellow revolutionaries killed in clashes with police before the Ukrainian Parliament voted to impeach Yanukovych.

Former heavyweight boxing champion Vitali Klitschko, a Ukrainian politician considered a presidential frontrunner if elections are held in the revolutionary government, was horrified over the violence. "We never expect the police would use guns...using snipers...grenade exploding...I have a feeling I'm in a movie...what's happen[ed] with my country?" he asks. He was with protestors who looked to him as a leader and he says he feels guilty that people died and he didn't.

Of Russian President Vladimir Putin's move into his country, Klitschko says, "Russia have idea to rebuild empire. Some new kind of Soviet Union, but without Ukraine, it's impossible to do it."

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