The Kremlin deplores ‘lack of progress’ in talks with West

An Ukrainian Military Forces serviceman in Donetsk region on Tuesday. Pic/AFP

The Kremlin on Thursday said it deplored the lack of progress in talks on Moscow's demand for security guarantees against NATO's eastward expansion and strongly rebuffed Western calls for a pullback of Russian troops from areas near Ukraine.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov also warned of a complete rupture U.S.-Russian relations if proposed sanctions targeting Russian President Vladimir Putin and other top civilian and military leaders are adopted. The measures, proposed by Senate Democrats, would also target leading leading Russian financial institutions if Moscow sends troops into Ukraine.

Russia and the West took uncompromising stands during the talks this week to discuss the tensions over Ukraine. While Moscow demanded a halt to NATO expansion, Washington and its allies firmly rejected them as a nonstarter.

Monday's Russia-U.S. talks in Geneva and Wednesday's Russia-NATO meeting in Brussels failed to narrow the gap, although the parties left the possibility open for future talks on arms control and ways to prevent military incidents between Russia and the West.

The talks come as an estimated 100,000 combat-ready Russian troops, tanks and heavy military equipment are massed near Ukraine's eastern border.

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