Russia says perplexed by Ukraine's call for border closure, troops withdrawal

Moscow said Thursday that it was perplexed by Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko's plea to close the border with Russia, and that there were no troops to withdraw from the country.

"I have seen ... Poroshenko's statement about closing of the border with Russia. To be honest, such statements produce bewilderment and a great deal of confusion," Russian Foreign Ministry spokesman Alexander Lukashevich told a regular press briefing.

There are no and have been no members of Russian armed forces in Ukraine, he said, adding that there's nothing to withdraw.

Lukashevich also noted that no problems have been observed on the Russian side of the border, where several checkpoints have been monitored by a mission of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE).

"As for the Ukrainian part of the border, which is so far not under the Ukrainian authorities' control, it is necessary to negotiate directly with representatives of the Donetsk and Lugansk regions," he said.

Early on Thursday, Poroshenko, during a visit to Australia, urged Russia to withdraw troops from his country.

"Please stop the fire. Please withdraw your troops from my territory. Please close the border," Poroshenko told a joint press conference with Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott.

"I promise, if you close the border, within one, two or three weeks we have peace and stability in Ukraine," he added.

On Wednesday, Russia said it had sent a group of military officers to the Donetsk region at Kiev's request to facilitate peaceful settlement of the crisis. The Russian and OSCE representatives will try to defuse tension there by persuading the sides to withdraw their heavy arms from the front line, said Moscow. Enditem