MOSCOW, January 30. /TASS/. There is no war between Russia and Ukraine but Moscow is unable to positively assess bilateral relations, Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Wednesday.

Commenting on a statement by Ukrainian President Pyotr Poroshenko who characterized the relations between Moscow and Kiev as "a cold peace," the Russian presidential spokesman recalled some political developments in Kiev and in southeast Ukraine that had caused a deterioration in bilateral relations.

"There is no war between Russia and Ukraine at all. These are two neighboring countries, two fraternal peoples but at the same time we undoubtedly cannot give a positive assessment of what I just spoke about [the developments in Ukraine]," Peskov added.

As the Kremlin spokesman said, Ukraine is in a state of a civil war and "there are developments in Ukraine that were provoked by the authorities in Kiev that led to the establishment of two republics in the country’s southeast. There is a series of ongoing provocations that has escalated tensions along the engagement line and there are consequences for the social and economic situation in these two republics," Peskov elaborated.

"This is what de facto exists and there are also a lot of other events that have transpired as a result of the violent change of power that took over [the government in] Kiev. There are also many other things that can’t be subject to any assessment. Among them are discriminatory measures against our companies, encroaching on the property of our companies, i.e. encroaching on the property of foreign investors. In addition, our mass media outlets’ rights, our journalists’ rights to freedom of speech, to life, liberty and security have been infringed," the Kremlin spokesman added.