Russia has denied involvement in the seizures of official buildings by pro-Russians in eastern Ukraine
Russian
Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov has accused the West of wanting to
"seize" Ukraine, amid escalating rhetoric between Russia and the US.
On Thursday US Secretary of State John Kerry had accused
Russia of "distraction, deception and destabilisation" in eastern
Ukraine.The US says Russia has failed to live up to an agreement to end the crisis struck in Geneva last week.
American officials say Russia is behind unrest in eastern Ukrainian cities.
Pro-Russian separatists are occupying key buildings in a dozen eastern Ukrainian towns, defying the central government.
Ukraine has launched military raids to regain the buildings, which Mr Lavrov described as a "bloody crime".
"The West... wants to seize Ukraine so to speak, being solely motivated by its own geopolitical ambitions and not the interests of the Ukrainian people," Mr Lavrov said, according to AFP.
"The might of US propaganda" was aimed "at smearing Russia, smearing those who protest against the illegal actions of the [Kiev] authorities," he went on.
Soon after Mr Lavrov's comments, Ukrainian Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk said Russia wanted to "start World War Three" by occupying Ukraine "militarily and politically" and by creating a conflict that would spread to the rest of Europe.
Russia has ordered new military exercises on its border following the Ukrainian military raids, drawing condemnation from Kiev.
Moscow has tens of thousands of troops along its side of the border and on Friday acting Ukrainian Defence Minister Mikhail Koval told the Interfax-Ukraine agency that they had come within a kilometre of the border.
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Continue reading the main storyThese are strong words from John Kerry. But they're unlikely to convince the Kremlin to change its position on Ukraine.
Experience shows that President Putin doesn't respond well to Western criticism. He believes the United States and the EU are hypocritical, that the West is the sponsor of what Moscow sees as an illegitimate government in Kiev. He suspects Western governments are plotting to undermine Russia's national interests.
If you analyse the tough language coming out of Moscow in recent days and look at the way this conflict is being portrayed by Russian TV channels - as Kiev sending in troops against innocent civilians - there is no sign that the Kremlin is prepared to change its view.
If that is the case, then Russian military intervention in eastern Ukraine on the pretext of protecting Russians and Russian-speakers there remains a distinct possibility.
Experience shows that President Putin doesn't respond well to Western criticism. He believes the United States and the EU are hypocritical, that the West is the sponsor of what Moscow sees as an illegitimate government in Kiev. He suspects Western governments are plotting to undermine Russia's national interests.
If you analyse the tough language coming out of Moscow in recent days and look at the way this conflict is being portrayed by Russian TV channels - as Kiev sending in troops against innocent civilians - there is no sign that the Kremlin is prepared to change its view.
If that is the case, then Russian military intervention in eastern Ukraine on the pretext of protecting Russians and Russian-speakers there remains a distinct possibility.
Mr Kerry praised the interim
authorities in Kiev, saying they had honoured the agreement struck in
Geneva on 17 April to de-escalate the crisis.
But he said Russia had "put its faith in distraction,
deception and destabilisation" and said it had failed to call for
separatists to leave official buildings and give up their arms as
stipulated by the Geneva agreement.He also accused Russian media of promoting President Vladimir Putin's "fantasy" about events in Ukraine.
Mr Kerry said US intelligence was confident that Russia was "playing an active role in destabilising eastern Ukraine" with personnel, weapons, money and operational planning".
Also on Friday, reports from the port city of Odessa indicated that an explosion at a checkpoint injured at least seven people.
On Thursday morning raids by Ukrainian commandos on pro-Russian checkpoints around the town of Sloviansk left at least two separatists dead.
Unrest began in Ukraine last November over whether the country should look towards Moscow or the West.
Last month, Russia annexed Ukraine's mainly ethnic-Russian Crimea. This followed a referendum in the region that backed joining the Russian Federation but which the West and Kiev deemed illegal.
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