Russia on 'dangerous' path on Ukraine: U.S.'s Burns

ASTANA (Reuters) - U.S. Deputy Secretary of State William Burns said on Thursday Russia was heading down a "dangerous and irresponsible path" over Ukraine and that Washington and its partners would steadily step up pressure on Moscow until it changed course. After talks with Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev in the Kazakh capital Astana, Burns told reporters the situation in Ukraine was "extremely combustible". "We do not seek confrontation with Russia ... but so long as Russia continues down its current dangerous and irresponsible path we will continue to work with our international partners to apply steadily increasing counter-pressure," he said. Asked about the prospects for resolving the crisis in Ukraine after Russian President Vladimir Putin took what appeared to be a softer stance on Wednesday, he said: "The short answer is: 'We'll see'." (Reporting by Dmitry Solovyov, Writing by Nigel Stephenson, Editing by Timothy Heritage)