Kremlin Says US Can Use Leverage With Ukraine To Ease Tensions

Russian presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Wednesday that the United States can use its leverage with Ukraine to deescalate tensions on the border with Russia

MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 14th April, 2021) Russian presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Wednesday that the United States can use its leverage with Ukraine to deescalate tensions on the border with Russia.

Russian President Vladimir Putin and his US counterpart, Joe Biden, spoke over the phone about Ukraine on Tuesday. Biden said he was concerned about Russia amassing troops near the border and asked it to ease tensions with the neighbor.

Asked whether the phone call could improve the situation on the ground, Peskov told a news conference in Moscow that, "Washington can easily use its influence on Kiev to make Ukrainians stop their provocations.

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Tensions are rising around the eastern Ukraine military build-up as the US continues to deploy two Navy warships to the Black Sea in an apparent show of military solidarity. Russia does not deny moving troops towards the Ukrainian border, but has said that the movements were aimed at ensuring national security in response to NATO's build-up near Russia's western frontier.