Kremlin: Anti-Russian Campaign Could Be Used to Distract From Kiev’s Possible Military Op in Donbass

Over the past few weeks, several western countries have expressed concern that Russia might be planning an offensive against Ukraine amid unsubstantiated media reports that Moscow is building up troops near its borders. The Kremlin rejected the allegations as a fake news campaign against Russia.

Accusations levelled at Russia regarding possible aggression against Ukraine might serve as a smokescreen to conceal Kiev's plans to resolve the issue of the self-proclaimed People's Republics in the country's east by force, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov has stated.

He stressed that Russia is an "absolutely peaceful country" interested in good relations with its neighbours and is not planning any aggression against anyone.

"The statements that Russia is going to attack someone, as well as reproaches against Russia that it is somehow behaving aggressively, are absolutely groundless and incorrect at their core".

Dmitry Peskov

Kremlin spokesman

The Kremlin spokesman went on to lash out at both the western and Ukrainian media for whipping up hysteria over Russia's alleged plans of aggression against Kiev. Peskov called their actions absolutely unacceptable.

Russia has repeatedly condemned Kiev's failure to live up to its obligations under the Minsk accords, designed to achieve peace in eastern Ukraine. Moscow expressed concerns on multiple occasions that the Ukrainian authorities are preparing to resolve the internal conflict militarily. Russia even called on Kiev's western allies to stop supplying it with new weapons, saying the latter only motivate it to resort to violence to resolve the conflict.

Over the last few weeks, several US media outlets have reported a significant military build-up along Russia's border with Ukraine. US Secretary of State Antony Blinken later said that Washington was concerned about the possibility of Russian aggression against Ukraine. Moscow, in turn, rejected all allegations and insisted that the movements of the nation's military within the country's borders were of nobody's concern.