Representatives of the West, including NATO, have recently launched a "blatant information aggression" against Russia.

This was stated by the press secretary of the President Dmitry Peskov.

“Over the past 24 hours, we have been hearing reports that, they say, Russia retains a huge strike potential on the border, but we are talking about our own territory.

But no one, not a single Western representative, talks about the huge strike potential of the Ukrainian armed forces on the line of demarcation.

And coupled with provocative actions that have only intensified in the last day or several days, this is a very, very dangerous situation, ”TASS quoted Peskov as saying.

Commenting on publications that Russia has pulled another 7,000 troops to the border with Ukraine, a Kremlin spokesman indicated that military formations are returning to their places of permanent deployment, as reported by the Ministry of Defense.

“This is a time-consuming process.

It is clear that the grouping for maneuvers was formed over many weeks and, of course, it is impossible to withdraw it in one day - they cannot simply rise into the air and fly away.

This takes time,” Peskov explained, calling the publication “an unfounded accusation.”

On February 16, State Department spokesman Ned Price, in an interview with CNN, said that Washington "does not see" any significant signs of de-escalation and a significant withdrawal of Russian troops from the border with Ukraine.

“We know that the Russians are spreading false information and disinformation.

We have good reason to believe that the Russians are saying one thing and doing another, trying to confuse, trying to hide the truth.

The threat is very real,” said a State Department spokesman.

During the daily briefing, he also pointed out that the US never announced a specific date for the invasion, but Russia "deployed such means and means that give it the opportunity to order an attack at any time."

US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken made similar rhetoric, saying that Moscow allegedly says one thing and does another: “Forces, especially those that would act in the forefront in any resumption of aggression against Ukraine, are still located, accumulating near the border.”

The Russian Embassy in Washington, responding to Price's remarks, stated that "the flywheel of anti-Russian hysteria spun in the United States does not allow American colleagues to look at things objectively": "Self-hypnosis about the inevitability of a Russian attack continues stubbornly."

The diplomatic mission also called on the State Department "not to feed the" militaristic frenzy "of journalists and focus on really important issues of diplomatic settlement of the intra-Ukrainian conflict."

Also on russian.rt.com “Monstrous reputational losses”: why the West continues to talk about a possible “invasion” of Russia into Ukraine

Russia expects from the Western media "a more serious, more responsible and truthful approach" in covering the situation around Ukraine, Dmitry Peskov stressed.

According to him, many Western newspapers, TV channels and radio stations "do not disdain anything" in their activities.

“Every moment risks moving from the realm of information attacks to consequences that will cause a new outbreak of war in the immediate vicinity of our borders,” the press secretary of the head of state explained.

Thus, the American publication Politico published a new date for the allegedly possible “Russian aggression”.

According to the publication, the previous date (February 16) "has always been too exaggerated": "In fact, you should look at what will happen in the period shortly after February 20."

Dmitry Peskov called this publication another fake.

“We have heard many dates.

All this turned out to be stuffing, irresponsible fakes.

None of the authors of these fakes later admitted they were wrong,” the Kremlin spokesman said.

  • Sergei Lavrov on Western speculation about Russia's invasion of Ukraine

In turn, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said that Western partners "initiate the spread of slander" and "engage in information terrorism."

“I don’t think they will ever repent of this, but they need to be brought to light.

This happens every day, however, they are like water off a duck's back.

That February 15, then the 16th, now, you see, the 20th already.

And Liz Truss generally says: at any moment it can be, and then I will be right that I predicted such a development of events, ”he said.

In his opinion, it is the actions of the West that should be regarded as an escalation of the situation around Ukraine.

“This is not our term.

We did not invent it, propagandists invented it.

It has already become a cliché, and without the use of expressions that express concerns about escalation and demand de-escalation, not a single European and American politician speaks at all today,” the Russian Foreign Minister added.

He also recalled that on February 20, the Russian-Belarusian exercises "Allied Resolve - 2022" will end.

At the same time, the official representative of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Maria Zakharova, commented on the statements of Politico in the following way: “We have a new date for the invasion - February 20 and beyond until the “decline of Europe.”

This time the American edition with the European headquarters of Politico.

They write that February 16 was planned, since this day is associated with the full moon, and February 20 - with the end of the Munich Conference.

A bit like Balzaminov's Marriage by Ostrovsky: “They say some kind of comet or planid is coming!

So scientists looked at the sky through a metroscope and calculated everything exactly according to the numbers: on what day and at what hour it will sit on the ground.

The day before, Maria Zakharova, referring to the Western media, called them “media of mass disinformation” and called for “announcing the schedule of Russian “invasions” for 2022 in order to plan your vacation.

In addition, she joked that the start of the weekly briefing was delayed due to checking reports of "invasion".