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Moscow could cut diplomatic ties with Ukraine - Medvedev

12 August 2016 17:34 (UTC +04:00)

Baku – APA. Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev said on Friday Moscow might be forced to cut diplomatic ties with Ukraine if a crisis related to a purported incident involving Ukrainian saboteurs in Crimea worsened, Reuters reported.

Medvedev raised the possibility of such a demarche after President Vladimir Putin accused Ukraine earlier this week of trying to carry out terrorist attacks in Crimea, a Ukrainian peninsula that Russia annexed in 2014.

Medvedev said cutting diplomatic ties with Kiev was one option, but that no decision had yet been taken.

"I would not want it to end this way, but if there is no other way to influence the situation, the president could probably take such a decision," said Medvedev, according to a transcript on the Russian government's web site.

Moscow is considering option of cutting diplomatic ties with Ukraine as a response to sabotage attempt by Ukrainian intelligence in Crimea, a source in Russian Foreign Ministry told Izvestia newspaper.

Official Moscow may close embassy in Kiev and recall all diplomats.

Earlier, Russian Federal Security Service disseminated information about sabotage attempt by Ukrainian Defense Ministry in Crimea. Two Russian servicemen were killed while preventing the attempt.

Sergey Toropov is Russia's charge d'affaires in Ukraine.