This comes hours after France announced that an agreement had been reached in-principle for Joe Biden to meet Vladimir Putin, so long as Moscow holds back from sending troops into Ukraine
The crisis – the worst between Russia and the West since the end of the Cold War – reached a peak this week with US officials warning that a full-scale invasion, including an assault on the capital Kyiv, was possible within days. AP
The Russian military said Monday that it had killed five “saboteurs” who crossed from Ukrainian territory, the latest claim fuelling tensions along Moscow’s border with Ukraine.
“As a result of clashes, five people who violated the Russian border from a group of saboteurs were killed,” the military said in a statement, adding the incident occurred near the village of Mityakinskaya in the Rostov region at 06:00 am (0300 GMT).
However, Ukraine firmly denied the claim.
“Not a single one of our soldiers has crossed the border with the Russian Federation, and not a single one has been killed today,” Anton Gerashchenko, an official at Ukraine’s interior ministry, told reporters.
This comes as East Ukraine rebel republics ask Putin to recognise their independence and just hours after France announced that an agreement had been reached in-principle for Joe Biden to meet Vladimir Putin, so long as Moscow holds back from sending troops into Ukraine
“It’s premature to talk about any specific plans for organising any kind of summits,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters.
“There is an understanding that dialogue should be continued at the level of foreign ministers,” Peskov said, adding that there are “no concrete plans in place” for a presidential summit.
“If necessary, of course, the Russian and American presidents can decide to hold a telephone call or connect via other methods,” the Kremlin spokesman added.
“A meeting is possible if the heads of state consider it appropriate,” Peskov added.
Putin was set to chair an emergency meeting of the Kremlin’s Security Council later Monday, Peskov said.
Russian foreign minister Sergei Lavrov was expected to speak by telephone with his French counterpart Jean-Yves Le Drian later on Monday ahead of scheduled talks with US secretary of state Antony Blinken Thursday.
Tensions between Moscow and Western capitals have been growing for weeks over a feared Russian attack on Ukraine and a large build-up of Moscow’s troops around Ukrainian borders.
Leaders of separatist-controlled regions in eastern Ukraine ordered civilians to leave for Russia last week, citing what they said was an escalation in tensions on the front line with Ukraine’s army.
Peskov told reporters that fresh fighting between separatists and the Ukrainian army had made the situation on the ground “extremely tense”.
“We’re talking about provocative and aggressive actions being carried out by the Ukrainian army that are endangering people’s lives,” Peskov said.
Fighting broke out between pro-Moscow separatists and the Ukrainian army in 2014 after Russia annexed the Crimean peninsula from Ukraine. More than 14,000 people have been killed in the fighting.
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