Russia

Russia knocks US ‘hysteria’ ahead of UN Security Council meeting on Ukraine

by Sarakshi Rai - 01/31/22 10:47 AM ET

Russia has continued to denounce the U.S. reaction to the situation in Ukraine ahead of a United Nations Security Council meeting, with a top Kremlin official accusing the U.S. of “stoking hysteria.”

Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov added that American media has been “pushing deliberately deceitful information” around Ukraine, according to CNN.

“To our dismay, American media have lately been publishing a very large amount of unverified, distorted and deliberately deceitful information about what’s happening in Ukraine and around it,” Peskov told reporters on Monday, the news outlet reported.

He added that “hysteria hyped up by Washington is causing hysteria in Ukraine.”

Peskov’s comments come as Russia has denied any intention of seeking to invade Ukraine and instead claims it is responding to perceived aggressions from NATO.

The remark comes after President Biden and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky spoke on the phone on Thursday, with Biden saying Russia could invade at any time and Zelensky pushing back, saying an invasion is not imminent.

Americans in Ukraine and families of diplomatic personnel have been urged to leave the country amid rising tensions in the region. The Ukrainian government has characterized the decision as premature.

Russia has gathered more than 100,000 troops at its border with Ukraine and continues to resist diplomatic pushback from the U.S. and European countries. The White House has warned that an invasion could happen at any moment.

Pentagon spokesperson John Kirby on Sunday said the U.S. is looking at sanctions on Russia “the likes of which we have not looked at before,” but added that there is still “room and space for diplomacy.”

Russia has demanded that Ukraine be blocked from ever joining NATO, a demand that Kirby said is outside of Putin’s purview. However, he reiterated that the U.S. is willing to listen to some of Moscow’s other security demands.

Tags Joe Biden John Kirby