MOSCOW, November 27. /TASS/. Russian Foreign Intelligence Service (SVR) Director Sergey Naryshkin assured that there will be no Russian invasion of Ukraine, noting that everything that happens around this issue is a malicious propaganda action of the US Department of State.
"Yes, I have to calm everyone down, nothing like this is going to happen," he said on Russian TV Saturday, speaking about the alleged invasion in Ukraine being prepare by Russia.
"Overall, everything that is happening around this topic right now is, of course, a kind of a malicious propaganda action of the US Department of State. The Department pumps its allies, top mass media management, heads of US political studies centers full of these lies to make them multiply these lies on and on. And they have inflated a rather large bubble around it," Naryshkin said.
He underscored that Russia should remain calm and strengthen its defensive capabilities amid US’s desire to push Ukraine towards escalating the Donbass conflict anew.
"[Washington’s] goal is to push the poorly controlled Kiev regime to escalate the conflict that is, actually, happening in eastern Ukraine anew. Meanwhile, for the US, Ukraine is expendable in every regard, in this entire story, but [they do have a] wish to escalate this conflict, escalate it anew. We, of course, should remain calm and reinforce our country's defensive capability," the SVR Director said.
When asked if, by spreading such rumors, Washington pushes Kiev to attack Donbass, Naryshkin said that it is "apparently, so."
Recently, claims of Russia’s alleged intervention in Ukraine have become increasingly frequent in the West and in Ukraine. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov called these reports an empty and groundless escalation of tensions, underscoring that Russia does not pose any threat to anyone. He noted that provocations that seek to justify such claims are indeed possible, and warned that attempts of forceful solution of the Donbass issue will have the most serious consequences.