Provocative manoeuvres of West escalating Ukraine conflict, says Vladimir Putin

Russian President Vladimir Putin has accused the West of escalating the Ukraine conflict.

"(Our) Western partners are escalating the situation by supplying Kiev with lethal modern weapons and conducting provocative manoeuvres in the Black Sea," he said in a wide-ranging speech to foreign policy officials in Moscow.

He said that the West is taking Russia's warnings of not crossing its "red lines" too lightly.

Despite describing his relations with the United States as "unsatisfactory," Putin said he is willing to talk.

The longtime Russian leader said Moscow has been "constantly raising concerns about this" but "all our warnings and talk about red lines are treated superficially". 

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Previously, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov had said that the United States was making ''aggressive moves'' in the Black Sea.

The Black Sea is a sensitive region for Russia, which controls the Crimea peninsula after annexing it from Ukraine in 2014. 

Since then, Kiev has fought a conflict with pro-Russia rebels in the east of the country which has claimed more than 13,000 lives. 

Russia-West ties have been at post-Cold War lows for years, but the tone has sharpened in recent weeks as Ukraine and NATO countries have raised fears over Russian troop movements near Ukraine's borders and tried to guess Moscow's real intentions.

(With inputs from agencies)