Russia will not invade Ukraine unless it is provoked to do so, said Vladimir Chizhov, permanent representative to the European Union. At the same time, the Russian Foreign Ministry noted the "failure" of Western propaganda, which promised that the Russian Federation would attack Ukraine on February 15. The Kremlin also added that the Russian president was already joking, asking if the Western media had published "the exact time in hours when the war will begin."

“Counterattack”

Chizhov said that Russia has the right to “counterattack” if it considers that Kiev threatens the population of eastern Ukraine.

“If the Ukrainians attack Russia, don't be surprised if we retaliate. Or if they start brazenly killing Russian citizens anywhere - in the Donbass or somewhere else, ”Chyzhov said in an interview with The Guardian.

According to him, Russia will not invade Ukraine unless it is "provoked to do so."

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February 15

Since January, US officials have been telling journalists about the intelligence they have at their disposal, according to which Russia is allegedly planning an invasion of Ukraine.

According to the authors of the Guardian article, in this context, Chizhov’s words about the Russian response to the Ukrainian attack “will sound ominous to Western officials.”

The West accuses the Russian Federation that it has concentrated about 145,000 troops on various parts of its border with Ukraine, including in Belarus, where joint military exercises are taking place. Allegedly, this is how the Kremlin is preparing an attack on Ukraine. Moscow denies all accusations and emphasizes that any movement of troops across the country is a sovereign matter.

However, US officials said over the weekend that Russia has accelerated its invasion plans and could launch a full-scale ground and air offensive as early as Tuesday-Wednesday.

Thus, the American agency Bloomberg, which had previously mistakenly reported on the beginning of the “invasion” of the Russian Federation into Ukraine, reported, citing officials, that Russia could “attack” the neighboring country on February 15. At the same time, the authors of the article did not specify the officials from which countries they are talking about, do not name their positions and names, and also do not provide any evidence.

“February 15, 2022 will go down in history as the day that Western propaganda for war failed. Confounded and destroyed without firing a shot,” Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova responded to American forecasts on Tuesday in her Telegram.

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February 16

The German newspaper Der Spiegel reported that the “Russian attack” will take place on February 16. The same date of the "invasion" was indicated in the Politico article. The authors referred to unknown sources. According to their information, US President Joe Biden, during a conversation with the leaders of the allied countries, said that Russia could allegedly attack Ukraine on February 16.

On Tuesday, British Foreign Secretary Liz Truss, who had previously mistakenly denied Russia's sovereignty over the Voronezh and Rostov regions, said that a Russian invasion of Ukraine was "very likely."

“The invasion can be immediate, it can happen with a high degree of probability. We call on Vladimir Putin to step back from the brink. We are preparing for the worst, which is why we are calling on all British subjects to leave Ukraine,” Truss told Sky News.

According to her, this could be an attack on Kiev, or an invasion of the east of the country. She also expects "in the coming days" a "distraction" from the Russian Federation.

“We know, or we believe, that Vladimir Putin has not yet decided whether to invade Ukraine or not. There are a huge number of troops lined up near the border. We know that they are able to attack immediately. But he might change his mind. That is why diplomacy is so vital. We want diplomatic permission, but not at the expense of Ukraine's sovereignty," Truss said.

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We don't believe it

Ukraine itself doesn't really believe the arguments of Western politicians. So, on the eve of the Minister of Defense of Ukraine Oleksiy Reznikov said that today there are no grounds for the introduction of martial law.

“I am sure that there are absolutely no grounds for introducing such a provision of a special legal regime. In no case can this be done just for the sake of regulating the media atmosphere, ”he said on the air of the ICTV channel.

He is also confident that the country will survive this crisis, and it is only informational.

“Martial law is introduced if aggression occurs as an invasion, I have the hope that such an invasion will not happen, and therefore everything will be fine,” Reznikov concluded.

Earlier, President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky at a briefing called on Western politicians to hand over to the authorities of the country any information about plans attributed to Russia to escalate the situation.

“If you or any people have any additional information regarding a 100% invasion of Ukraine from the 16th of the Russian Federation, give us this information,” the president asked.And the head of the faction of the presidential party "Servant of the People" in the Verkhovna Rada, David Arakhamia, called on Tuesday to analyze the unreliable information that the world media began to disseminate regarding the situation around Ukraine.

“Frank fakes in CNN, Bloomberg, WSJ ... We must study this, because these are elements of a hybrid war. People must understand that this (panic -) is now costing Ukraine 2-3 billion dollars every month,” the politician said on air TV channel "1 + 1".

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“Information madness”

Press Secretary of the President of Russia Dmitry Peskov told a CNN correspondent that Vladimir Putin is ready to negotiate on Ukraine.

“President Putin has always demanded negotiations and diplomacy,” Peskov stressed.

Later, during a press conference, he said that statements that Russia was allegedly preparing an "invasion" of Ukraine and reports about its possible date are difficult to be taken with understanding.

“It is difficult to be understanding, but sometimes (Russian President Vladimir Putin) even jokes, asks to know if the exact time in hours when the war starts is published. Sometimes it is impossible to meet the manic informational madness that is happening with understanding, ”Peskov said.

The day before, during a meeting between the Russian president and the heads of the Foreign and Defense Ministry, Russian Foreign Minister Lavrov said that the Russian response to the US and NATO decisions on the security guarantees proposed by the Russian Federation took ten pages. He noted that the text contains a warning to the West about the inadmissibility of endlessly dragging out the discussion of the security issue. He added that there is always a chance to negotiate with the West, and the Russian Federation plans to increase the activity of these negotiations.

In turn, Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu said that part of the Russian military exercises would be completed in the near future. Already on Tuesday, the official representative of the Russian Defense Ministry, Major General Igor Konashenkov, announced that the troops of the Southern and Western military districts had completed exercises in western Russia and Belarus and were returning to their garrisons.

bbabo.Net