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Kiev’s Allegations of Attack on Russian Military in Ukraine Drive Western Stocks Lower

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US and European stock prices saw a downturn on Friday after Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko claimed his forces attacked Russian vehicles which allegedly crossed into Ukraine at night, CNBC business news channel reported.

MOSCOW, August 16 (RIA Novosti) - US and European stock prices saw a downturn on Friday after Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko claimed his forces attacked Russian vehicles which allegedly crossed into Ukraine at night, CNBC business news channel reported.

The Russian Defense Ministry denied the allegations of a Russian incursion into eastern Ukraine, calling the claims a 'fantasy' that is not worth discussing. “No Russian military column crossed the Russian-Ukrainian border, either at night or during the day,” the ministry’s spokesman, Maj. Gen. Igor Konashenkov, told RIA Novosti. The UN in turn said it could not verify the report, calling for both parties to resolve the conflict through dialogue.

The tensions over Russian initiated humanitarian aid supplies to Ukraine’s embattled southeast hit western stocks and other assets considerably, CNBC business news channel reports.

The pan-European FTSEurofirst 300 was reported to have closed provisionally down 0.5 percent on Friday at 1,323 points, although it was up a day earlier by about 1.3 percent.

The German DAX underperformed ending down 1.7 percent, due to its component companies' reliance on Russian energy supplies.

However, stocks demonstrated growth a day earlier following Russia’s conciliatory comments, considerably easing concerns about the ongoing crisis in Ukraine, as well as offseting earlier losses, Reuters reported Thursday.

Russian President Vladimir Putin said Russia would stand up for itself but not at the cost of confrontation with the outside world, nor breaking ties with partners, speaking in, as western media put it, a softer tone after the tough rhetoric with regard to Ukraine in the latest months. “We need to build our country calmly, adequately, and effectively without fencing off the outside world and not breaking relations with [our] partners, but doing so without being arrogant,” Putin was quoted as saying.

The Western market has been lately faced with a bit of uncertainty over the standoff over the ongoing crisis in Ukraine, with the Eurozone core, notably German, France and Italy suffering cuts in GDP.

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