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“But I believe we should avoid taking incremental steps before we know how far we are willing to go,” he said. “This is a territory 300 miles from Moscow, and therefore has special security implications.”

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Meanwhile, former Russian leader Mikhail Gorbachev told Russia’s Interfax news agency that the West had “dragged” Russia into a new Cold War, one that risked outright confrontation.

“I can no longer say that this Cold War will not lead to a ‘Hot War.’ I fear that they could risk it,” he was quoted as saying.

Mr. Gorbachev was one of the architects of the peaceful dismantling of communist rule in Eastern Europe.

He has increasingly sounded ominous warnings about the path events are taking in Ukraine. Earlier in January, he reportedly told a German magazine that he feared a nuclear confrontation was possible if things begin to escalate.

“The statements and propaganda on both sides make me fear the worst. If anyone loses their nerve in this charged atmosphere, we will not survive the next few years,” he said.

“I do not say such things lightly….I am a man with a conscience. But that’s how it is. I’m really extremely worried.”

More than 5,100 people have been killed in the bloody conflict. Ukraine accuses Russia of aiding the separatists while Russia says the West is behind Ukraine’s attempts to retake the rebel-held areas.

On Thursday, Ukraine’s military conceded that its forces had been overrun by rebel forces in another town in their battle to hold onto a strategically valuable railway hub.