The risk of a general armed conflict in southeastern Ukraine is extremely high and is becoming a matter of serious concern for Russia, Moscow has warned. Additional tensions for Moscow are, as stated by Ukraine, the stated goal of retaking the Crimean peninsula, which Moscow annexed in 2014, a Ukrainian effort that poses a "direct threat" to Russia.

"We see this as a direct threat to Russia," said Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov.

Tensions between Russia and Ukraine have escalated in recent days. President Volodymyr Zelensky has said Ukraine needs direct talks with Russia to end the war in the eastern Donbas region against Moscow-backed forces.

Moscow launched a new round of military exercises near its southern region near the Ukrainian border yesterday, and the Russian Defense Ministry said the exercises would take place in Crimea, and in the region bordering Donbass, part of eastern Ukraine controlled by Russian separatists.