KYIV (Reuters) - Ukraine's Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba met the European Union's top diplomat Josep Borrell on Thursday to speed up work on specific economic restrictions which could hit the Russian economy if Moscow launches a new offensive, Kuleba said.

       Ukraine and its NATO allies have sounded the alarm about Russian troop movements near Ukraine's borders this year, sparking worries that a simmering conflict in eastern Ukraine could erupt into open war between the two neighbours.

       "We discussed the need to deter Russia and speed up work on specific economic restrictions which will be able to hit the Russian economy should Moscow decide to launch a new stage of aggression against Ukraine," Kuleba said in a tweet.

       (Reporting by Natalia Zinets, writing by Pavel Polityuk; editing by Matthias Williams)