George Stephanopoulos repeatedly pressed Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyak Sunday morning, asking him to explicitly deny that Moscow would move to invade eastern Ukraine.

“How about eastern Ukraine, sir?” Stephanopoulos asked. “Can you state unequivocally that Russian troops will not push into eastern Ukraine?”

[sharequote align="center"]“Can you state unequivocally that Russian troops will not push into eastern Ukraine?”[/sharequote]

“We have said so many times that we have no intent, no interest in crossing the border,” Kislyak responded.

“But does that mean you won’t do it?” Stephanopoulos pressed.

“We are not planning to,” Kislyak answered. “We have our forces conducting the exercises in the territory of Russian Federation, I would like to remind you. In the the territory of the Russian Federation. That is normal exercise we are conducting."

"Moreover, we have offered transparency over the issue and there were a number of overflies done, including by our Ukrainian neighbors and friends. Just for them to see there was nothing that was happening that would be threatening to their interest.”

The Russian ambassador also responded to President Barack Obama labeling Russia a regional power acting out of weakness, characterizing it as an "artificial" comment.

(H/T: Mediaite)

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