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| - The Kremlin said Thursday Ukraine and the West should not "worry" about Russian troop movements on the Ukrainian border, as Kiev raised concerns that the conflict in east Ukraine could once again escalate. This week Ukraine and the United States reported a movement of Russian troops in annexed Crimea and on the Russian-Ukrainian border, near territories controlled by Moscow-backed separatists. The war in eastern Ukraine broke out in 2014 when Russia annexed the Crimean peninsula following a bloody uprising that ousted Ukraine's Kremlin-friendly president Viktor Yanukovych. Russia has repeatedly denied sending its troops and arms to buttress the separatists. While Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov did not directly confirm a troop buildup on the Ukrainian border, he stressed on Thursday that Moscow is at liberty to move troops across its territory. "The Russian Federation moves its armed forces within its territory at its discretion," Peskov told reporters. He added that "it should not worry anyone and does not pose a threat to anyone". "As for the participation of Russian troops in the armed conflict on the territory of Ukraine, Russian troops have never taken part in it," he said. "And (they) are not doing it now". This week, Moscow and Kiev blamed each other for a rise in violence between government forces and Kremlin-backed separatists in eastern Ukraine, which has undermined a ceasefire brokered last year. According to Kiev, at least 19 Ukrainian servicemen have been killed since the start of the year. The Pentagon on Wednesday told journalists that US forces in Europe have raised their alert status following the "recent escalations of Russian aggression in eastern Ukraine". Also on Wednesday, Mark Milley, chairman the US Joint Chiefs of Staff, spoke with his Russian counterpart Valery Gerasimov and Ukraine's Commander in Chief Ruslan Khomchak. Khomchak said this week that 28,000 separatist fighters and "more than 2,000 Russian military instructors and advisers" are currently stationed in eastern Ukraine. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky was elected in 2019 on promises to end the seven-year conflict, but critics say that the shaky ceasefire is his only tangible achievement. Talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Paris in December 2019 brought the sides no closer to a lasting settlement. The fighting has claimed more than 13,000 lives since 2014, according to the United Nations. mp-acl/as/pvh
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