Kremlin: Biden's Claims That Russia Could Attack Ukraine 'in Coming Days' Escalate Tensions

The US president claimed earlier in the day that there is "every indication" that Russia is "prepared to attack Ukraine". POTUS did not elaborate on what those indications were, except for alleged an alleged Russian troop buildup, or why, in his view, Moscow's preparedness means that the Kremlin will order an offensive.

The Kremlin has slammed US President Joe Biden's allegations about Russian plans to invade Ukraine using a "false-flag operation" as another escalatory step that does not help to soothe tensions.

"Unfortunately, the tensions continue to be escalated by such statements", Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said, commenting on POTUS' words.

Biden claimed on 17 February that the US saw no indication of a Russian troop withdrawal, which the country's Defence Ministry had announced a day earlier. He insisted that the alleged threat of a Russian invasion of Ukraine remains "very high", despite Moscow repeatedly issuing assurances that it has no such plans.

"Every indication we have is they're prepared to go into Ukraine, attack Ukraine. [The US has] reason to believe [that Russia is] engaged in a false flag operation to have an excuse to go in", Biden said.

Biden did not elaborate on what signs or "indications" led him to believe that Russia is planning false flag attacks and an invasion of Ukraine. Neither POTUS nor his Secretary of State Antony Blinken, who addressed the UN Security Council and made similar allegations on 17 February, explained why they believed the alleged massing of Russian troops on its western border meant that Moscow was planning to use them to invade its neighbour.

The Kremlin has repeatedly rejected Western politicians' claims of an "imminent" invasion and even mocked the various predictions in mainstream media and tabloids about the possible dates and hours when such an offensive would allegedly start. One such date (16 February), named by Politico, The Sun, and The Mirror recently passed – with Russian troops either remaining where they were or returning to their permanent deployment bases after the end of scheduled drills. Western media, however, rushed to report a new date – 20 February – with the Kremlin responding to it with the same scepticism and criticism over whipping up tensions.