Here's more on Putin's remarks from RFE/RL's news desk:
Putin Blames Kyiv, Poroshenko For Confrontation At Sea
Russian President Vladimir Putin has blamed Kyiv for a confrontation in which the Russian coast guard rammed and fired at Ukrainian naval vessels, asserting that Ukraine deliberately provoked the clash in an effort by President Petro Poroshenko to boost his popularity ahead of a reelection bid.
Putin's remarks at an international audience at a Russian business forum on November 28 were his first public comments on the incident three days earlier, which increased already high tension between Kyiv and Moscow and sparked concerns of a flare-up in the simmering war between Ukranian government forces and Russia-backed separatists in eastern Ukraine.
Putin repeated Russia's claim that the three Ukrainian naval vessels trespassed in Russian waters, an assertion that Kyiv denies. While squarely laying the blame on Ukraine, he also seemed to seek to play down the clash, saying it was nothing more than a border incident and claiming that the imposition of martial law in 10 Ukrainian regions – including those bordering Russia -- was an exaggerated response.
Opinion polls in Ukraine suggest that Poroshenko faces an uphill battle in his bid for a second term in a presidential election scheduled for March 31.
In earlier comments at the same conference, Putin said he hopes he will meet with U.S. President Donald Trump on the sidelines of a Group of 20 summit later this week in Argentina, as planned.
Trump cast doubt on the plans on November 27, telling The Washington Post that he might not meet with Putin as a result of the confrontation between Russia and Ukraine and adding: "I don't like that aggression. I don't want that aggression at all."
With reporting by Reuters and AP
Also from our news desk: some sanctions-related news:
Putin Aims Below The Belt With Wry Remark Targeting U.S. Dollar
Russian President Vladimir Putin denigrated the dollar and hit out at U.S. sanctions against Moscow with a wry remark about his country's efforts to decrease its reliance on the U.S. currency.
Putin spoke at an economic conference in Moscow on November 28, amid plans for Russia's first euro-denominated bond issue in five years this week -- a sign of its bid to move away from the dollar.
“We don't want to move away from the dollar. The dollar is moving away from us," Putin said at the forum before an audience that included foreign business executives, suggesting that U.S. sanctions were restricting Russian transactions in the U.S. currency.
"The people who are making decisions aren't shooting themselves in the foot, but somewhere a bit higher up," he said.
"Instability in dollar payments" is prompting "very many" countries to find alternative reserve currencies and create payment systems that are independent from the dollar." Putin asserted.
Putin, who has been president or prime minister since 1999, has frequently used earthy remarks and off-color jokes in an effort to make a point -- and make a splash.
Plans for a meeting with U.S. President Donald Trump on the sidelines of a G20 summit in Argentina on November 30-December 1 are uncertain after Trump said he might not meet with Putin following a Russian-Ukrainian cofromtation at sea off Crimea.
With reporting by Interfax and TASS
Here is today's map of the latest situation in the Donbas conflict zone according to the Ukrainian Defense Ministry. (CLICK TO ENLARGE.)
