VIENNA - The commander of U.S. troops in Europe has dismissed claims by Russia that it is staying out of the Ukraine conflict, speaking of "clear and irrefutable evidence" to the contrary.

Lt. Gen. Ben Hodges spoke of both direct and indirect military help by Moscow to Russian separatists, in comments released Wednesday from a briefing to a closed session of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe.

"Russia is actively and massively fueling this conflict," he declared during the briefing Tuesday.

He spoke to the OSCE as the foreign ministers of Russia, Ukraine, France and Germany met to discuss the conflict amid escalating fighting that is throwing doubts on a shaky peace accord.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said afterward that the four agreed to "not allow a breakdown" of a peace deal reached in February.

"There is a sense that there are powers who would like to destroy this process," Lavrov told reporters in Paris. "I won't name them. But such forces exist." (AP)