Kremlin says watching US actions over Ukraine with concern

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov accused Washington of fuelling tensions over Ukraine - repeating Moscow's line that the crisis is being driven by US and NATO actions rather than by its own build-up of tens of thousands of troops near the Ukrainian border, Reuters reported on Tuesday.

Western states accuse Russia of planning an imminent attack on Ukraine while Moscow denies any such plan.

NATO said on Monday it was putting forces on standby and reinforcing eastern Europe with more ships and fighter jets. Russia denounced the moves as Western "hysteria".

Peskov said President Vladimir Putin would talk this week to his French counterpart Emmanuel Macron, who is also planning to speak with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy.

Russia is awaiting a written US response this week to its list of security demands it has presented, some of which Washington has dismissed as non-starters.

Peskov said the US troop alert did not affect negotiations because the current phase of talks had been completed.

KI/PR