RUSSIA urged the United States to abandon its plans to provide more weapons to Ukraine today, calling for it to use diplomatic means to resolve escalating regional tensions.

Last week US authorities approved additional military aid to Ukraine worth $200 million, which Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said was escalating tensions.

“If the United States is truly committed to diplomatic efforts to resolve the intra-Ukrainian conflict, they should abandon plans to supply new batches of weapons for the armed forces of Ukraine. 

“Instead, Washington should use its influence on the Ukrainian authorities to convince them to stop sabotaging the Minsk Agreements,” a statement from the Russian embassy in Washington said.

It also called for the US to “end the hysteria over the Donbass issue,” referring to the frequent claims being made that Russia is about to invade the region in Ukraine.

“We stress once again: Russia is not going to attack anyone. The practice of moving troops on our own soil is a sovereign right. 

“We call to end the hysteria and not to pile on tension around the Donbass problem. And most importantly, not to push ‘hotheads’ in Kiev towards new provocations,” the Russian statement said.

Tensions have escalated dangerously in Ukraine, with the mobilisation of troops either side of the Russian border.

US and British warships have been sent to the Black Sea while Nato has increased its “forward base” troop presence in Poland and the Baltic states.

Last week it was reported that the CIA had been training Ukrainian forces to lead an armed insurgency.

Its director William Burns made a secret visit to Kiev to meet President Volodymyr Zelensky last Wednesday.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken arrived in the country today to “reinforce the United States’s commitment to Ukraine’s sovereignty and international integrity.”

Four-way talks will be held with Britain, France and Germany in Berlin on Thursday.