RIA also cited Alexander Grushko, who met ambassadors of NATO member states in Brussels, as saying unprecedented activity by the alliance near Russia's borders was adding to tension and could undermine existing security arrangements.
Earlier, Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said Russia will submit a draft resolution to the U.N. Security Council calling for an immediate end to worsening violence in Ukraine and the creation of humanitarian corridors in the east of the country. Lavrov said that Western nations had assured Russia the situation in Ukraine would improve after its May 25 presidential election but that "everything is happening in exactly the opposite way". The draft resolution "will contain a demand for the immediate halt to violence and the beginning of actual negotiations with the aim of establishing a stable and reliable ceasefire," Lavrov said. It will also include "a demand for the creation, without delay, of humanitarian corridors though which peaceful civilians could leave combat zones if they wish," he said. The text would also call for guarantees of unhindered access for humanitarian aid. Meanwhile, a fierce battle was underway in Ukraine's rebellious east after a pro-Russian militia attacked a Ukrainian border post with automatic weapons and grenade launchers in the early hours. Security sources said a force of separatists had occupied the upper floors of a nearby apartment block and were shooting into the border post on the southern edge of Luhansk, a city very close to the frontier with Russia. "Shooting is continuing. There has been no let-up in firing for seven hours now," border post spokesman Oleh Slobodin said. "We have 8 or 9 wounded. The attackers have five dead and 8 wounded," he said. On another note, Russia's Energy Ministry confirmed it has received $786.4 million from Ukraine's Naftogaz for gas deliveries, essential for both sides to start negotiations on a gas price, a spokeswoman for the ministry told Reuters.
"Payments are for February and March," she said. Gazprom declined to comment.
European Union mediator Guenther Oettinger said on Friday a $786 million partial payment for back gas bills was on its way to Moscow, clearing the way for further talks on Monday.
REUTERS