The White House strongly urged Moscow yesterday to stop its “extremely dangerous and provocative” attempts to destabilize Ukraine, where tensions have soared again in the past 24 hours.
There has been an “escalation” in Russian activity in recent weeks to unsettle the already tense situation on the ground in eastern Ukraine, National Security Council spokeswoman Caitlin Hayden said in a statement.
Earlier, Ukraine said it had destroyed part of a Russian armored column that entered onto its territory in an incursion that sent cross-border tensions rocketing.
Russia and Ukraine have been wrangling for days over a convoy that Moscow says is carrying humanitarian aid for besieged rebel-held cities but which Kiev suspects could be a “Trojan horse” to provide military help to the insurgents.
“Even as we work to gather information (about the partial destruction of the Russian armored column), we reiterate our concern about repeated Russian and Russian-supported incursions into Ukraine,” Hayden said.
“Russia has no right to send vehicles, persons, or cargo of any kind into Ukraine, under any pretext, without the government of Ukraine´s permission.
