Moscow denied reports Wednesday
that it is massing troops on the Ukrainian border, as President
Vladimir Putin announced a year-long moratorium on food imports
from countries that have sanctioned Russia.
CNN quoted a senior NATO official as saying Russia has
deployed as many as 20,000 troops at the Ukrainian border, where
18 soldiers died and 54 were wounded in combat with pro-Russia
rebels over the past 24 hours, Ukraine Security Council
spokesman Andrii Lisenko told local media.
"They (the Americans) seem like serious people, but they
are obliged to improvise all the time in order to lend
credibility to their statements," Russian Defence Ministry
spokesman Igor Konashenkov said.
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