Russian president Vladimir Putin held talks with his top security officials on Friday in Crimea, amid a sharp rise in military activity in and around the Black Sea peninsula and fresh Ukrainian warnings that Moscow could trigger all-out war.
Mr Putin again accused Kiev's forces of launching a raid into Crimea a fortnight ago that allegedly killed two Russian servicemen, but he said the Kremlin would not formally sever diplomatic relations with Ukraine over the "provocation".
“I hope this won’t be the final choice of our partners, and that common sense will prevail,” he said before discussing how to boost security measures in Crimea with senior officials.
“We’re not ready to cut our ties, despite the unwillingness of the current authorities in Kiev to have full diplomatic relations at the ambassadorial level. We will nevertheless create opportunities for the development of contacts,” he added.
Mr Putin replaced Dmitry Livanov as Russia's education minister and proposed that he become his special representative for trade and economic ties with Ukraine.
“I think his own business skills will help in building, in restoring economic ties with our neighbouring state, which are important for us,” Mr Putin added.
Diplomatic relations have been all but frozen and many deep economic links between Russia and Ukraine have been destroyed since the latter's pro-western revolution ousted Kremlin-backed president Viktor Yanukovich in February 2014.
Russia annexed Crimea the following month and then fomented, funded and armed a separatist uprising in eastern Ukraine that has since killed 10,000 people and displaced two million.
The so-called Minsk agreements to end the conflict are in shreds, with none of their main aims fulfilled by either side and violence in the east now at its worst level for a year.
Mr Putin said Ukraine’s leaders had launched the alleged Crimea raid because “they can’t, for whatever reason, fulfil the Minsk agreements, and can’t explain to their own people the major failures in their socio-economic policy.”
Officials in Kiev say they cannot give Donetsk and Luhansk regions more autonomy or hold local elections there while fighting continues and Russia prevents Ukraine from controlling its own eastern border – allowing Moscow to send weapons and fighters to the separatists at will.
Ukrainian president Petro Poroshenko has denied Russia's claims over the alleged Crimea raid, calling them a pretext for more aggression against his country.
Moscow has sent a high-tech S-400 air defence system to Crimea in recent weeks, and local people have posted many reports and images of a major build up of troops and armour in the last fortnight.
Ukraine and Russia have launched war games around the region over the same period, and Moscow’s military said on Thursday that it had held exercises to practice the rapid deployment of troops and armour to Crimea.
“The likelihood of the conflict’s escalation remains very high,” Mr Poroshenko said on Thursday, adding that he “does not exclude a full-scale Russian invasion along all fronts”.
The United States said this week that it would deliver its latest batch of defensive weapons for Ukraine in the coming days.
