Can't de-escalate: Russia on build-up at border

MOSCOW, December 1

The Kremlin said on Wednesday it could not de-escalate tensions with the West over Ukraine due to a large concentration of Ukrainian forces near its border.

US, NATO and Ukrainian officials have expressed concerns over unusual Russian troop movements near Ukraine. Moscow has said its posture is purely defensive.

A Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson earlier accused Ukraine of deploying half of its army or 1,25,000 troops at Donbass, a conflict zone in eastern Ukraine where government forces have been battling Russia-backed separatists since 2014.

Kremlin spokesman Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov repeated that accusation and said Moscow was seriously worried about the large number of Ukrainian troops near Russia.— AP