Moscow says it's unlikely to send peacekeepers to Ukraine:
Russia’s envoy to the United Nations has voiced skepticism about a request from pro-Russian separatists in Ukraine for a UN peacekeeping force.
Asked about the appeal, Vitaly Churkin said on November 26, "I think it's unlikely."
AFP news agency quoted a senior European diplomat as saying there was no enthusiasm for mounting a peace operation in eastern Ukraine, where government forces have been battling rebels since April.
On November 25, leaders of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People's Republic called for the intervention of a UN peacekeeping force that included Russians.
The Ukrainian government suggested it was a pretext to invite Russian troops, who Kyiv and the West say are already covertly taking part in the conflict, onto its territory. (AFP, TASS)
BREAKING:
President Vladimir Putin has said Russia poses "no threat to anyone" and does not intend "to get involved in any geopolitical games or intrigues."
He was speaking on November 26 at a meeting with military chiefs in the Black Sea resort of Sochi.
Putin said Russia would "securely safeguard" its sovereignty and integrity and that of its allies.
The Russian president also drew "special attention to the need for a comprehensive approach and the unification of efforts of all government bodies in tackling tasks in the sphere of defense."
Putin's comments come as the conflict in Ukraine, where government forces have been battling pro-Russian separatists since April, has brought ties between Moscow and the West to post-Cold War lows.
Kyiv and the West accuse Russia of directly supporting the rebels, which Moscow denies.
Russian also annexed Ukraine’s Crimean Peninsula in March.
Lithuania's foreign minister spoke with RFE/RL's Ukrainian Service in Prague today. Here's what he had to say:
Lithuanian Foreign Minister Linas Linkevicius has said that "the key to the solution" of the Ukrainian crisis lies in Moscow.
Speaking on November 26 to RFE/RL's Ukrainian Service in Prague, Linkevicius said, "We are dealing with an external aggression because we know that there are troops, rocket launchers, and tanks flowing [into Ukraine] from outside and this amounts to a state level of support."
Ukraine has been fighting pro-Russian separatists since April, with Kyiv and the West accusing Moscow of backing the rebels.
The United States and EU imposed economic sanctions against Russia, and Moscow responded with a ban on food imports from countries that sanctioned it.
Asked whether the EU is doing enough to pressure Russia on Ukraine, Linkevicius said the bloc must "act more in unison, in a more timely manner -- not too late -- and also adequately -- not with half-measures."
The West "must support Ukraine -- politically, economically, and, I believe, militarily, especially given that it is facing an external aggression," he added.