Putin Accuses Ukraine of Terror as Crimea Tensions Escalate

President Vladimir Putin promised to respond to what he called Kiev’s “terror” tactics in Crimea, raising the stakes as fighting between Ukrainian government forces and Russian-backed rebels intensifies in the country once again.

The flare-up derailed plans to rekindle diplomatic talks over the war-ravaged region, with Putin telling reporters Wednesday in Moscow that a proposal to hold peace negotiations on the sidelines of a Group of 20 meeting in China next month is now “pointless.” His secret service earlier accused its counterpart in the neighboring country of having killed two Russian servicemen in two separate incidents during a covert operation on the disputed peninsula. Ukraine’s president called the accusations “cynical.”