“Crazy idea fix”: the Foreign Ministry called the rumors spread by the West about the “aggression” of the Russian Federation a fictitious basis for sanctions

The West is obsessed with the idea that Russia is allegedly preparing for an “invasion” of Ukraine, since such a development of events will allow the application of new anti-Russian sanctions.

This opinion was expressed by Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of the country Alexander Pankin in an interview with RIA Novosti.

“By and large, it has long been clear that even in the absence of grounds for applying this kind of restrictions to Russia, they will be found, or rather invented, including, as we have already emphasized, the crazy idea of ​​\u200b\u200bfixing Russia’s attack on neighboring countries,” said Pankin.

Recall that on February 3, State Department spokesman Ned Price began his briefing by saying that the United States had information indicating that Russia was allegedly planning to stage a fabricated attack as a pretext for further invasion of Ukraine.

After this statement, the journalists spent several minutes trying to get the American official to provide evidence that "the Russians are planning this at all."

On February 7, Price was again asked a question on this subject.

He said that the US Foreign Office could not provide any additional information.

The day before, presidential press secretary Dmitry Peskov noted that a "very, very tense atmosphere" remains between Russia and the West.

The reason is the reluctance of Western interlocutors to mention the topic of providing Moscow with legal security guarantees from the United States and NATO.

At the same time, they “discuss in a very exalted way the existing, in their opinion, the problem of the upcoming attack of the Russian Federation on Ukraine.”

In turn, Vladimir Putin, following the results of negotiations with French President Emmanuel Macron, once again explained why Russia opposes the expansion of NATO at the expense of new members in Eastern Europe.

“We are not moving towards NATO, but NATO is moving towards us.

Therefore, to say that Russia is behaving aggressively, at least, does not correspond to sound logic, ”he said.

The head of state also pointed out the danger of Ukraine's possible entry into the North Atlantic Alliance.

He recalled that Ukrainian doctrinal documents state that Russia is an adversary, and the return of Crimea can be carried out by military means.

“Imagine that Ukraine is a member of NATO.

Article 5 has not been repealed, on the contrary, Mr. Biden, President of the United States, recently said that Article 5 is an absolute imperative and will be enforced.

This means that there will be a military confrontation between Russia and NATO.

And I asked at a press conference last time: “What are we going to fight with NATO?”

But I want to ask you too, is there a second part of this question: “Do you want to fight with Russia?”

You ask your readers, viewers, users of Internet resources: "Do you want France to fight with Russia?"

But this is how it will be,” Putin said.

Also on russian.rt.com "Seeking answers to key questions": Putin announced Russia's readiness to continue dialogue on security guarantees

At the same time, Joe Biden and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz met in Washington.

As the press service of the White House reported, the leaders of the two states discussed the alleged “build-up of the Russian military presence near the borders of Ukraine”, as well as joint efforts to contain the Russian Federation and energy issues.

At the final press conference, the American leader threatened the Nord Stream 2 project.

“If Russia invades, that is, tanks or troops cross the Ukrainian border again, there will be no more Nord Stream 2.

We will put an end to it,” he said.

Biden also assured that Washington will be able to do this, even though the fate of the pipeline is in the hands of Berlin.

According to Olaf Scholz, there is a military threat to Ukraine.

At the same time, the German Chancellor added that in the event of an escalation, the West would take coordinated and unified measures that would be very tough for Russia.

However, he did not directly state Germany's readiness to prevent the launch of Nord Stream 2, even after a clarifying question.

“As I said, we are acting together, we have absolute unity, we will not act separately.

Our steps will be the same and very, very difficult for Russia, and they should understand this, ”said the German leader.

On February 15, Olaf Scholz will visit Moscow, where he will meet with Vladimir Putin.

During it, the heads of the two countries will discuss issues of providing Russia with legal security guarantees and resolving the situation in Ukraine.

At the same time, according to CNN journalist Jake Tupper, received from a source “close to the government of Ukraine”, the discrepancy in positions regarding Nord Stream 2 was the reason why Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky canceled a meeting with German Foreign Minister Annalena Burbock.

Another reason was Berlin's refusal to provide Kiev with any military assistance.

Annalena Burbock was scheduled to meet with Zelensky as part of her visit to Ukraine on February 7-8.

However, at a press conference following the meeting with her Ukrainian counterpart Dmitry Kuleba, she said that the meeting would not take place because French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian, who was also supposed to take part in the talks, canceled his trip to Kiev.