MOSCOW, January 24. /TASS/. A Bloomberg report about Chinese President Xi Jinping allegedly asking Russian leader Vladimir Putin not to attack Ukraine during the Beijing Olympics is spectacular fake news, Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova told the Ekho Moskvy (or Echo of Moscow) radio station on Monday.
"Bloomberg has publicized utter jaw-dropping fake news recently, claiming that Xi Jinping had asked Putin not to attack Ukraine during the Olympic Games," she noted. "Frankly speaking, I did not expect this level of disinformation from Bloomberg not because it is an unconfirmed fact but because it is sheer impossibility and unbelievable stupidity. I could have expected it from some US newspaper but not from Bloomberg. They used to be less susceptible to these types of propped-up leaks, but now they seem to have given up on that," Zakharova stated.
The Russian diplomat pointed out that while working on the report, Bloomberg did not request any comments from the Russian presidential press service, nor from the Foreign Ministry. "That’s not like Bloomberg, is it? They maintain virtually round-the-clock contact with high-ranking Russian officials on all issues," she emphasized.
The Bloomberg agency reported earlier, citing an unidentified diplomat in Beijing, that Chinese President Xi Jinping could have allegedly asked Putin not to attack Ukraine during the Olympics scheduled for February 4-20. Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova slammed the report as "an information black op" carried out by the United States. Furthermore, the Chinese Embassy in Russia rejected the report as fake news and a provocation.