Russia conducted live tank tank maneuvers near the Ukrainian border on Tuesday, while expressing disappointment at the prospects of talks with the United States on security issues, which Washington hopes to remove a possible threat of invasion of Ukraine, according to Reuters.
A day after the United States called on Russia to withdraw approximately 100,000 troops from border areas during the Geneva talks, the ministry said about 3,000 troops had begun combat training, including simulated battles in four regions of southwestern Russia.
Exercises show that the Kremlin has no intention of easing the military pressure that has brought the United States to the negotiating table, where Moscow has called for broad security guarantees from the West.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said it was positive that Monday's talks were open, substantial and direct, but that there was no real reason for optimism.
Russia wants quick results, he said. "There are no clear deadlines here, no one sets them - there is only the Russian position that we will not be satisfied with the endless procrastination of this process.
Peskov said the situation would be clearer after two more rounds of talks Russia is due to hold this week - with NATO in Brussels on Wednesday and with the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) in Vienna on Thursday.
US Deputy Secretary of State Victoria Nuland told reporters that it was "disappointing to hear" that the Kremlin found no cause for optimism in the talks, and said Washington wanted the "constructive" exchange of views to continue.
Russia, by conducting live fire exercises, is "obviously going in exactly the opposite direction" to the de-escalation that Washington wants to see, Nuland added.
Russia has repeatedly said it has no intention of attacking Ukraine, but has the right to deploy its forces as it sees fit on its own territory.
Moscow is urging the United States and its allies to rule out the possibility of Ukraine joining NATO, which promised in 2008 to accept Kiev one day. The Kremlin also wants NATO to remove forces and weapons from former communist countries that joined it after the end of the Cold War.
Washington has said it cannot accept these demands, although it is ready to commit to other aspects of Russia's proposals, discussing the deployment of missiles or restrictions on the size of military exercises.
Russia's Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ribkov said after talks in Geneva on Monday that the two countries have "in a sense opposing views". He told reporters: "It is absolutely imperative for us to ensure that Ukraine never, never, never becomes a member of NATO."
UN Under-Secretary-General Wendy Sherman said: "We are in a difficult position ... in light of the security proposals that the United States is not ready to launch."
NATO has no immediate plans to accept Ukraine, but says Russia cannot dictate its relations with other sovereign states, a position confirmed by Ukraine's foreign minister on Tuesday.
US President Joe Biden warned Putin in two talks last month that any new Russian aggression would cause serious economic costs in the form of unprecedented sanctions. Putin replied that such moves would be a colossal mistake and would lead to a complete rupture in relations.
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