Russia has accused both the US government and Western media outlets of stoking military tensions and rebuked claims that it plans to attack Ukraine early next week.
“Hysteria at the White House is revealing more than ever. The Anglo-Saxons need war. At any cost. Provocations, disinformation and threats are [their] favorite method of solving their own problems,” Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova wrote on Friday evening.
“The whole world is watching how militarism and imperial ambitions are exposing themselves,” Zakharova said, adding that “the propaganda brigade led by Bloomberg” is complicit in the ongoing escalation.
The statement came after the New York-based news agency quoted US sources as saying that Moscow could invade Ukraine as soon as Tuesday. Last week, Bloomberg accidentally published and then retracted a headline reading: “Russian invades Ukraine.”
Politico and Der Spiegel published similar stories that quoted US officials as warning their European allies about a potential Russian invasion of Ukraine on February 16. This coincided with a speech by White House National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan, who told reporters Moscow could launch missiles and airstrikes into Ukraine before invading it with ground troops.
Anatoly Antonov, Russia’s ambassador to the US, dismissed Sullivan’s words as part of a “propaganda campaign.” He reiterated that Moscow has no plans to attack anyone.