The US accusations that Russia is allegedly preparing some kind of provocation in the Donbass have no basis, said Dmitry Peskov, press secretary of the President of the Russian Federation.
“So far, all these statements have been unfounded and have not been confirmed by anything,” Peskov said, commenting on the relevant publications of a number of Western media (quoted by TASS). Earlier, CNN, citing a source in the US administration, reported that Russia was allegedly preparing a provocation in the Donbas “under a false flag.” According to the official, who preferred to remain anonymous, Moscow deployed a group of “well-trained operatives” to carry out acts of sabotage.
Later, similar accusations were made by White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki and Pentagon Press Secretary John Kirby. “Without going into details, I will say that we do have information indicating that Russia is already actively working to create a pretext for a possible invasion of Ukraine,” the latter said.
The Kremlin has repeatedly denied media reports about Russia’s plans to attack Ukraine. In November 2021, Bloomberg, citing its sources, reported on the buildup of Russian troops and weapons in preparation for a rapid and large-scale invasion of Ukraine from several sides. The invasion allegedly could happen at the beginning of 2022. Peskov then said that the materials of the publication were stuffed.
In December of the same year, Bloomberg again published material that Russia continues to pull tanks, artillery and air defense systems to the borders of Ukraine. Then, during the annual press conference, Russian President Vladimir Putin said that Russia does not threaten anyone, thereby again refuting the information of foreign media.
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