Following Russian Defense Minister Sergey Shoigu’s remarks about the situation in eastern Ukraine, US Department of State Spokesperson Ned Price called upon Russia to stop ‘inflammatory rhetoric,’ TASS reports.
"Contrary to statements from the Russian Defense Minister, Russia and its proxies are responsible for escalating tensions, not Ukraine or the United States," he said in a Twitter post. "We call on Russia to stop using false, inflammatory rhetoric and take meaningful steps to de-escalate tensions to provide a positive atmosphere for discussions."
The spokesperson did not specify what statements he was referring to.
Russian Defense Minister Army General Sergey Shoigu said at the ministry’s enlarged board meeting on Tuesday that more than 120 mercenaries from private US military companies were detected in the towns of Avdeevka and Priazovskoye in the Kiev-controlled areas of the Donetsk Region. They are setting up firing points, plotting military operations and training radical armed groups. According to Shoigu, canisters with unknown chemical substances were delivered to the town of Avdeyevka and the village of Krasny Liman.
Pentagon spokesperson John Kirby was quoted as saying by Politico that "those statements by Minister Shoigu are completely false."
