Russian military not in Ukraine - Putin

MOSCOW (Reuters) - President Vladimir Putin said on Thursday Russian military forces were not in Ukraine, denying allegations by Ukraine and Western countries that Moscow is providing troops and support for pro-Russian rebels fighting in eastern Ukraine.

(Additional reporting by Elizabeth Piper, Vladimir Soldatkin, Lidia Kelly, Andrey Kuzmin, Polina Devitt, Jack Stubbs, Jason Bush and Maria Tsvetkova, Writing by Elizabeth Piper, editing by Timothy Heritage)