Russia says it's worried about Ukrainian military buildup

MOSCOW (AP) — Russia on Wednesday expressed concern about Ukraine's military buildup near the area of the separatist conflict in the country's east, a statement that comes amid Ukrainian and Western worries about alleged Moscow's plan to invade its neighbor.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said the concentration of Ukrainian troops looks “alarming,” adding that he was going to raise the issue during a ministerial meeting in Stockholm of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe on Thursday. He again assailed Ukraine for failing to meet its obligations under a 2015 peace deal signed in Minsk that was brokered by France and Germany.

“Kyiv is becoming increasingly insolent in its aggressiveness towards the Minsk agreements, the Russian Federation, and in its attempts to provoke the West to support its military ambitions," Lavrov said in remarks in the upper house of Russia's parliament.

The Russian Foreign Ministry said that Lavrov was scheduled to meet with U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken on the sidelines of the meeting.

Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said that Ukraine has amassed about 125,000 troops — about half of the size of its military — near the conflict zone. She also pointed at an increasing number of violations of a cease-fire in the east.

Russian diplomats' statement follow Ukrainian and Western officials' concern about a Russian military buildup near Ukraine, which they said could signal plans by Moscow to invade its ex-Soviet neighbor. NATO foreign ministers warned Russia on Tuesday that any attempt to further destabilize Ukraine would be a costly mistake.

The Kremlin has insisted it has no such intention and has accused Ukraine and its Western backers of making the claims to cover up their own allegedly...