SOCHI, Russia (Reuters) - President Vladimir Putin said on Wednesday Russia would safeguard its own security and that of its allies but posed a threat to no one.

"We pose no threat to anyone and do not intend to get involved in any geopolitical games or intrigues, let alone conflicts, no matter who tries to draw us into them or how they do so," Putin told a meeting with military chiefs in his state residence in the Black Sea resort of Sochi.

"At the same time, it is indispensable to securely safeguard the sovereignty and integrity of Russia and the security of our allies."

On Tuesday, Ukraine leveled fresh charges that Russia was sending support to pro-Russian separatists in the east, saying that five columns of heavy equipment were seen crossing onto Ukrainian territory on Monday.

The latest accusations come amid a standstill in diplomatic efforts to end the six-month conflict in the east in which the United Nations says more than 4,300 people have been killed.

Separately, the Kiev military said one soldier was killed and five others injured in the past 24 hours as a fragile ceasefire declared on Sept. 5 continued to come under pressure.

"The Russian side is continuing to provide the terrorist organizations of the Donetsk and Luhansk people's republics with heavy armaments," said a foreign ministry spokesman.

Evhen Perebyinis told journalists that a total of 85 vehicles had been detected in the five columns that entered at the Izvaryne border crossing point from Russia on Monday.

"Up to six of these were heavy armored transporters. The rest were vehicles and buses carrying fighters and ammunition," he said.

Despite what Kiev's pro-Western leaders and Western government say is incontrovertible proof, Russia denies sending in troops to support separatist rebels trying to hive off parts of Ukraine's industrialized east and eventually join Russia.

Asked about reports of Russian humanitarian aid convoys entering Ukraine without authorization, he said: "A significant amount of the goods which are being supplied ... is fuel, ammunition and other military help."

Perebyinis repeated an earlier charge that on Nov. 20, for the first time since a peace deal had been signed byRussia, Ukraine and the separatists, Ukraine had been subjected to artillery fire from the Russian Federation near the village of Kamyshine near the rebel-controlled border town of Luhansk.

Describing the fire as "outright aggression" against Ukraine's territorial integrity, he called on Russia to pull out its troops and equipment from Ukrainian territory.

A senior Russian official said on Tuesday an announcement by Ukraine's president that he would hold a referendum on NATO membership in several years' time would increase regional tensions.

"I am convinced that what has been announced now by the Ukrainian leadership will only bring a further escalation of the situation around Ukraine," Interfax news agency quoted Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov as saying.





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(Writing by Gabriela Baczynska, Editing by Timothy Heritage)