Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said on Wednesday that talks with Ukraine were difficult because Kyiv was constantly changing its position, as reported by Reuters.

"Sending peacekeepers to Ukraine may lead to a direct confrontation between Russia and NATO," Lavrov added.

Market reaction

The market mood sours in the early European session on Wednesday. The Euro Stoxx 600 Index, which opened in positive territory, was last seen trading flat on the day and the US stock index futures were down between 0.2% and 0.3%.