WASHINGTON, November 8 (RIA Novosti) — The United States still needs to confirm claims emanating from Kiev that Russian tanks and artillery have allegedly crossed the Ukrainian border, State Department spokesperson Jen Psaki has told reporters.
"There have been a range of reports. I am not suggesting we are questioning them, I'm just suggesting we don't have independent confirmation," Psaki said Friday, referring to Ukrainian reports, which claim that Russia has allegedly moved heavy artillery, including T-64 tanks and Howitzer artillery systems, into Ukraine.
Since the beginning of the military conflict in eastern Ukraine, Kiev and the West have repeatedly accused Russia of intervening in the Ukrainian crisis, going as far as to claim that Moscow has sent troops and weapons to independence supporters in the Donetsk and Luhansk regions. However, the United States and its partners have never supported their accusations with any evidence.
The Ukrainian crisis escalated in mid-April, when Kiev launched a military operation against independence supporters in the country's southeastern regions, who refused to recognize the new government, which came to power as a result of the February coup.
