Russia rejects Western concerns about Ukraine as smokescreen

By VLADIMIR ISACHENKOV
Associated Press

MOSCOW (AP) — The Kremlin has rejected the U.S. claims of a Russian troop buildup near Ukraine as a ruse intended to cover up what it described as Ukrainian leadership’s aggressive intentions. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov on Monday dismissed U.S. media allegations of a purported Moscow plan to invade Ukraine as part of efforts to discredit Russia and insisted that troops movement on its territory shouldn’t concern anyone. Ukraine complained this month that Russia has kept tens of thousands of troops not far from the two countries’ borders after conducting war games in an attempt to further pressure its neighbor. Russia annexed Ukraine’s Crimean Peninsula in 2014 and has supported a separatist insurgency that broke out that year in eastern Ukraine.