Russia and U.S. discussed situation in south-eastern Ukraine - TASS

Russian and U.S. representatives have discussed the situation in south-eastern Ukraine, the TASS news agency quoted Russia's Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov as saying on Tuesday. On Monday, Ryabkov said that Russia was in high-level contact with the United States about tensions over Ukraine and dismissed fears of a Russian military buildup even as it vowed to respond to new Ukrainian sanctions.

There has been a recent spike in violence in Ukraine's eastern Donbas region where Kyiv's troops have battled Russian-backed separatist forces in a conflict it estimates has killed 14,000 people since 2014.