Russia has detained 25 Ukrainians suspected of preparing terror attacks in the southern and central part of the country, RIA news agency quoted a statement by the Federal Security Service (FSB) as saying on Thursday.
The detained, who were reported as being members of ultra-nationalist movements, were planning attacks between March 14 and 17, it said. The press service of the Ukrainian state security service (SBU) dismissed the report as "nonsense".
The announcement came hours after the SBU said FSB staff had been present at the SBU headquarters during of anti-government protests in Kiev.
Earlier in the day, security chiefs said the killings of protesters in the
Ukrainian capital Kiev in February during the 'Euromaidan' unrest took place "under the direct leadership" of ousted President Viktor Yanukovich.
The charges were made during a news conference by the prosecutor general and heads of the interior ministry and state security at which they blamed the shooting deaths of more than 100 people on Berkut riot police.
Yanukovich himself fled the day after the worst of the killings by sniper fire on Feb. 20 and was later ousted by parliament.
This comes as
Finance Minister Oleksander Shlapak said on Thursday that
Ukraine hopes for $13 billion in external aid this year, including $7 billion from the International Monetary Fund.
"This year the possible amount of external resources are $13 billion. We can expect to get about 7 billion from the IMF, the rest we hope to get at donor conferences from other creditors," Shlapak told journalists.
Ukrainian PM:
Ukrainian Prime Minister Arseny Yatseniuk said on Thursday his government expected Russia to limit gas supplies to Ukraine as it steps up pressure on Kiev over energy sales.
His comments followed an announcement by Russian natural gas producer Gazprom that it would increase the gas price for Ukraine to $485 per 1,000 cubic meters this month, a move Yatseniuk said was politically motivated and "absolutely unacceptable".
"We expect Russia to go further in terms of pressure on the gas front, including limiting gas supplies to Ukraine," Yatseniuk told Reuters in an interview.
White House:
The White House objected to Russia's increase in natural gas prices for Ukraine on Thursday and said markets should determine prices.
White House spokesman Jay Carney spoke after Russian natural gas producer Gazprom announced it would virtually double the gas price for Urkraine to $485 per 1,000cubic meters this month, which Ukraine said was politically motivated.
"That kind of action taken coercively against Ukraine is something we oppose," Carney told reporters.
"We believe that markets should determine energy prices," he said.
Gazprom
Russia's top natural gas producer Gazprom said on Thursday Ukraine has to increase the level of gas in storage to ensure its stable transit to Europe.
Gazprom also said Ukraine's unpaid gas bill for Russian gas stood at $2.2 billion, up from the previous estimate of $1.7 billion.
The statement was published after Gazprom's chief executive officer, Alexei Miller, met the new head of Ukraine's state energy firm Naftogaz, in Moscow.
In this regard, Ukrainian Energy Minister Yuri Prodan said on Thursday a demand by Russia's Gazprom for Kiev to pay $485 per 1,000 cubic meters of gas had put the price too high and was politically motivated.
The head of Russia's top natural gas producer announced the increase, caused by the introduction of an export duty on gas sales to Ukraine, two days after raising the price to $385.5.
"The Ukrainian economy should not pay such a price for gas. It is a political price," Prodan told reporters in Kiev, and called for talks with Gazprom.
NATO:
Russia has recalled its top military representative to NATO for consultations in Moscow, a senior defense official was quoted by Russian news agencies as saying on Thursday.
"We don't see an opportunity to continue military cooperation as usual with NATO," RIA news agency quoted Deputy Defense Minister Anatoly Antonov as saying. "We have decided to recall the chief Russian military representative at NATO ... to Moscow for consultations."
He named the military official as Valery Yevnevich, who is a general.
This comes after NATO denied it was violating an agreement with Russia by boosting its forces in eastern Europe and accused Moscow of "violating every principle and international commitment it has made" by occupying Ukraine's Crimea region.
Russia said earlier it wanted answers from NATO on its activities in eastern Europe after the Western military alliance promised to beef up defenses for its eastern members.
But NATO chief Anders Fogh Rasmussen said he had not received any questions from Moscow and called Russian accusations about NATO's actions "propaganda and disinformation".