Moscow, Dec 16 (IANS): The North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) continues to provide military assistance to Ukraine, which only escalates the internal conflict in the country, the Russian Foreign Ministry has said.

"NATO countries are increasing the supply of weapons to Ukraine, training its military personnel, and are not doing this with the mythical aim of maintaining stability and security, but to simply add fuel to the fire," the Ministry's Spokesperson Maria Zakharova said.

During her weekly briefing, she expressed concern that these actions could drive Ukraine into a large-scale civil war.

According to her, the US has provided $2.5 billion in military aid to Ukraine since 2014, including more than $400 million this year alone, Xinhua news agency reported.

Russia does not trust the NATO's promise of not expanding eastwards as the words are not backed by actions, Zakharova added.

Commenting on the allegation that Russia is building up forces along the Ukrainian borders, the Spokesperson said that Russia has every right to move military units on its sovereign territory but it has no intention of aggression.

Earlier on Wednesday, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov and Kremlin Deputy Chief of Staff, Dmitry Kozak met Karen Donfried, US Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs, in Moscow to discuss the Ukrainian situation and the security issue in Europe.

Donfried will then travel to Brussels to coordinate US positions with its European allies and partners.