The Russian Foreign Ministry has described a claim by the British Foreign Office that Moscow plans to install a pro-Russian leader in Ukraine as "disinformation" and said it was further evidence that NATO countries are "escalating tensions around Ukraine." 

Meanwhile, top U.S. and Russian diplomats held talks on Ukraine on Friday in Geneva, with no major breakthroughs achieved. But both sides agreed to keep on talking so as to resolve a crisis that has stoked fears of a military conflict.