MOSCOW

Russia claimed Tuesday that Ukraine attempted five times to launch an incursion into its Belgorod region ahead of a phone call between the US and Russian presidents.

In a statement, the Defense Ministry said the attempts were carried out "to create a negative background" around the negotiations between US President Donald Trump and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin.

The ministry said the assault took place at 5:50 a.m. Moscow time (0250GMT) in the western part of the Belgorod region near Demidovka and Prilesye villages "to discredit the peace initiative of US President Donald Trump."

Putin and Trump on Tuesday discussed normalizing bilateral ties, prospects for settling the Ukraine conflict, and the situation in the Middle East in a 2 1/2-hour phone call.