On Monday, the Kremlin accused NATO and the United States of "exacerbating" tensions by deploying ships and combat aircraft to Eastern Europe amid fears of a Russian attack on Ukraine.
"Tensions are exacerbated by the announcements and concrete actions of the United States and NATO," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters on the subject of alliance forces in Eastern Europe. He denounced the "hysteria" in Europe over fears of an imminent Russian invasion of Ukraine.
Contrary to accusations that Russia is preparing to attack Ukraine, Peskov called the risk of a Ukrainian offensive against pro-Russian separatists "very high" in eastern Ukraine, where the two sides have been locked in a stalemate since 2014 which has left more than 13,000 dead.
"All of this leads to a situation where tensions are rising," he continued, before concluding that the "aggressive atmosphere" in Europe was a simply "reality."
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Russia has been accused of amassing tens of thousands of troops at the Ukrainian border in preparation for an attack.
Moscow denies any wrongdoing and continues to issue demands. These include the rejection of Ukraine by NATO and an end to the alliance's enlargement and military deployments in Eastern Europe — claims seen by many Western leaders as unacceptable.
After several rounds of talks, the United States will deliver written answers on this subject by the end of the week.
