MOSCOW, February 12. /TASS/. Washington requested a phone call between Presidents Vladimir Putin of Russia and Joe Biden of the United States earlier than planned because of hysteria around Russia’s possible ‘invasion’ of Ukraine, Kremlin Aide Yury Ushakov told reporters on Saturday.

"Today’s conversation came amid unprecedented attempts by US officials to whip up hysteria about an allegedly imminent Russian invasion of Ukraine," he pointed out. "By the way, the US cited the possibility of such a devastating scenario when requesting today’s phone call between the presidents," he added. According to Ushakov, the conversation was initially scheduled for Monday.

The Kremlin aide also said that other US administration officials had also requested urgent phone calls. They held conversations with many of their Russian counterparts on Friday and Saturday, he added. "Coordinated attempts were made to raise tensions around the ‘invasion’ issue. The hysteria has actually reached its climax," Ushakov noted.

The West and Kiev have recently been echoing allegations about Russia's potential invasion of Ukraine. Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov castigated these claims as "empty and unfounded," serving as a ploy to escalate tensions, pointing out that Russia did not pose any threat whatsoever to anyone. However, Peskov did not rule out the possibility of provocations aimed at justifying such claims and warned that attempts to use military force to resolve the crisis in southeastern Ukraine would have serious consequences.