TASHKENT, November 9. /TASS/. The diesel deal between Moscow and Washington does not benefit European countries, so they will continue attacking the agreement with a "barrage of fake news," Daniil Bisslinger, vice president of the Global Fact-Checking Network (GFCN), told TASS.

He referred to a statement by Kirill Dmitriev, the Russian president's special envoy for investment and economic cooperation with foreign countries and CEO of the Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF), who dismissed as fake a Financial Times report that tankers heading to the United States under the diesel deal with Russia had changed course. Dmitriev voiced dissatisfaction with the newspaper running fake stories more often than before.

"The issue here is not the diesel or the deal, but the fact that these contacts and this dialogue indicate possible normalization or prospects for stabilizing the international situation. Certain forces are concentrated in countries unfriendly to Russia, including in Europe. So whatever it may be – a meeting, talks in Abu Dhabi, a diesel deal or a draft settlement agreement – it will not meet the expectations of those states or groups of states. They will always attack these initiatives. If they do not bombard them with fake news, they will at least portray them in a false light," he told the news agency on the sidelines of the 3rd Russia-Uzbekistan Media Forum.

Bisslinger stressed that this often involves more than disinformation or outright lies. "What is particularly dangerous is that genuine facts are used, but everything is packaged in a way that creates a false impression. As happens, for example, with the diesel deal," he concluded.

The 3rd Russia-Uzbekistan Media Forum is taking place in Tashkent on November 9-10. It is organized by TASS and the Uzbekistan National News Agency (UZA).