Andrey Turchak, a senior member of Russia's ruling party, said on Wednesday that the Russian military would only enter two breakaway regions in Ukraine recognized by Moscow as independent states if it was asked to do so by separatist leaders there.
Turchak said any such deployment would be of what he described as "of a peacekeeping nature."
Turchak and Denis Pushilin, a Russian-backed leader in one of the breakaway regions, told reporters that the Russian military was not yet present in the Russian-backed separatist-held areas despite allegations from the West that Moscow has had a covert military presence there for years.