BREAKING:
President Vladimir Putin has said Russia poses "no threat to anyone" and does not intend "to get involved in any geopolitical games or intrigues."
He was speaking on November 26 at a meeting with military chiefs in the Black Sea resort of Sochi.
Putin said Russia would "securely safeguard" its sovereignty and integrity and that of its allies.
The Russian president also drew "special attention to the need for a comprehensive approach and the unification of efforts of all government bodies in tackling tasks in the sphere of defense."
Putin's comments come as the conflict in Ukraine, where government forces have been battling pro-Russian separatists since April, has brought ties between Moscow and the West to post-Cold War lows.
Kyiv and the West accuse Russia of directly supporting the rebels, which Moscow denies.
Russian also annexed Ukraine’s Crimean Peninsula in March.
Lithuania's foreign minister spoke with RFE/RL's Ukrainian Service in Prague today. Here's what he had to say:
Lithuanian Foreign Minister Linas Linkevicius has said that "the key to the solution" of the Ukrainian crisis lies in Moscow.
Speaking on November 26 to RFE/RL's Ukrainian Service in Prague, Linkevicius said, "We are dealing with an external aggression because we know that there are troops, rocket launchers, and tanks flowing [into Ukraine] from outside and this amounts to a state level of support."
Ukraine has been fighting pro-Russian separatists since April, with Kyiv and the West accusing Moscow of backing the rebels.
The United States and EU imposed economic sanctions against Russia, and Moscow responded with a ban on food imports from countries that sanctioned it.
Asked whether the EU is doing enough to pressure Russia on Ukraine, Linkevicius said the bloc must "act more in unison, in a more timely manner -- not too late -- and also adequately -- not with half-measures."
The West "must support Ukraine -- politically, economically, and, I believe, militarily, especially given that it is facing an external aggression," he added.
RFE/RL's Ukrainian Service has some more details of U.S. General Philip Breedlove's visit to Kyiv today:
The U.S. general who is NATO's senior commander in Europe has said that there is a large number of Russians providing "backbone guidance and training" to separatist forces in eastern Ukraine, and promised that the United States will support Ukraine in the face of an "immediate threat from Russia" to its sovereignty.
Speaking during a visit to Kyiv today, U.S. General Philp Breedlove said the United States would help Ukraine pursue a diplomatic solution to the conflict with pro-Russian separatists that would respect the country's sovereignty and territorial integrity.
Breedlove expressed deep concern over "the militarization of Crimea," the Black Sea peninsula that Russia annexed from Ukraine in March.
"We are concerned that the capabilities in Crimea that are being installed" would enable Russia to "exert military influence over the Black Sea," he told a news conference.
In addition to a sizable Russian force with a "coercive capability" near the border, Breedlove said that within Ukraine "we still see a large number" of Russians "who are involved primarily in training, advising, assisting, and helping Russian-backed forces in the east."
Here is some Crimea news from RFE/RL's Russian Service:
SIMFEROPOL, Crimea -- A Crimean Tatar has been detained in connection with clashes between Russian police and Crimean Tatars.
Edem Ebulisov's lawyer, Emil Kuberdinov, said his client was detained on November 25 and may be charged with assaulting police.
Ebulisov is the fourth Crimean Tatar arrested over clashes that occurred near Crimea's northern city of Armyansk in May.
Last month, Musa Apkerimov, Rustam Abdurakhmanov, and Tair Smeldyaev, were arrested and charged with assaulting police.
They were among thousands of Crimean Tatars who clashed with police near Armyansk as their veteran leader, Mustafa Dzhemilev, was prevented by authorities from entering Crimea on May 3.
Moscow-backed authorities of Crimea, the Ukrainian Black Sea peninsula that was annexed by Russia in March, banned Dzhemilev from entering Crimea for five years.
Dzhemilev and the majority of Crimean Tatars oppose the annexation.
