A Kremlin spokesperson said on Thursday that Russia is seriously concerned by the flare-up in violence in eastern Ukraine, as reported by Reuters.

Additional takeaways

"Moscow has repeatedly issued warnings over the concentration of Ukrainian forces near the contact line."

"Hopeful western capitals and NATO will use influence to warn Kyiv against inflaming situation there."

"It took weeks to deploy forces for military exercises and it takes time to withdraw them."

"Time is needed for troops to return to usual bases, it cannot be done in days."

"Russian defence ministry has a clear timetable to withdraw forces after war games."

"Defence minister told Russian President Putin certain phases of drills near Ukraine and in Crimea were nearing their end and forces involved in them will return to base when exercises end."

"We hope people will not believe fake reports about new possible Russian invasion date."

Market reaction

These comments don't seem to be having a significant impact on risk sentiment. As of writing, US stock index futures were down between 0.4% and 0.55, the US Dollar Index was flat on the day at 95.80.