US President Joe Biden during a press conference at the White House in Washington. File photoMOSCOW, Feb. 12 US President Joe Biden, at a video conference with leaders of Western countries, the European Union and NATO, called the date of Russia's «invasion» of Ukraine on February 16, but the Europeans disagreed with him on the timing and inevitability of escalation , and one of the officials said that the EU «refuses to buy such things,» writes the Politico newspaper, citing informed sources. The Russian Foreign Ministry has previously denied such statements.
"President Joe Biden gave Western leaders the date of February 16 the time of their hour-long conversation", the publication noted.
The publication, citing «numerous U.S. officials,» claims that «Russia will launch a physical attack on Ukraine as early as February 16…and Washington has notified its allies that this could be preceded by a string of missile strikes and cyberattacks.» Confirmation of these statements is not given in the publication. Biden's interlocutors were skeptical of American intelligence, the newspaper writes. even more skeptical, with one stating that they «still refuse to buy it,» the post said.When the United States sets fire to DonbassThe American Bloomberg agency, which had previously mistakenly reported Russia's «invasion» of Ukraine, expressed the opinion the day before that the «attack» would take place on February 15. The relevant information was given to the agency by «officials», but it is not specified which countries these officials are from, what positions and surnames they have, and no evidence is provided. Press Secretary of the President of Russia Dmitry Peskov told RIA Novosti that the erroneous publication of Bloomberg about the beginning «invasion» of Ukraine points to the danger of aggressive statements by the United States and Western capitals and shows how such messages can lead to irreparable consequences. Earlier, National Security Adviser to the American President Jake Sullivan said that Washington «continues to see» signs of an escalation of the crisis around Ukraine and «pulling new Russian troops» to the border. According to the adviser, the US believes that the «attack» could take place during the Olympics, which are taking place in Beijing these days. against the West Commenting on Sullivan's statement, Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova noted that the White House's hysteria is more indicative than ever, provocations, disinformation and threats — are the favorite method of solving their own problems, and «the propaganda team led by Bloomberg serves all this.» Kiev and Western politicians have been claiming in recent months that Russia has amassed troops on the border with Ukraine. As emphasized in the Kremlin, the armed forces are moving within their own territory — this does not threaten anyone and should not worry anyone. The Foreign Ministry explained that statements about «Russian aggression» are used as a pretext for increasing NATO contingents in the border regions, and such funny and dangerous.