No evidence so far to corroborate Russia allegations over Crimea - U.S.

U.S. ambassador to Ukraine Geoffrey Pyatt is seen before U.S. Assistant Secretary of State Victoria Nuland's news conference at the U.S. embassy in Kiev February 7, 2014. REUTERS/Gleb Garanich

KIEV (Reuters) - The United States has seen nothing so far that corroborates Russian allegations of a Ukrainian incursion into Crimea, the U.S. ambassador to Ukraine, Geoffrey Pyatt, said on Thursday.

Pyatt also said U.S. sanctions in relation to Russia's annexation of Crimea would remain in place until the territory was returned to Ukraine.

Russian President Vladimir Putin accused Kiev on Wednesday of using terrorist tactics to try to provoke a new conflict and destabilise Crimea, a region Moscow annexed from Ukraine in 2014. Russia said it had thwarted armed Ukrainian attempts to get saboteurs into the peninsula.

"Russia has a record of frequently levying false accusations at Ukraine to deflect attention from its own illegal actions," Pyatt wrote on Twitter.

"US government has seen nothing so far that corroborates Russian allegations of a "Crimea incursion" & Ukraine has strongly refuted them."

(Reporting by Matthias Williams; Editing by Gareth Jones)