ROME, February 16. /TASS/. Moscow intends to continue talks on security guarantees, which is the country’s priority, Russian Ambassador to Italy Sergey Razov said in an interview with RAI 1’s Porta a Porta.

"The leaders of Western countries, including German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, have stated that Ukraine’s accession to NATO is not a matter of today. But what will happen tomorrow or the day after tomorrow? There are no guarantees, and this is why Russia will continue to hold talks on these issues, which are a priority for Russia," the envoy pointed out. He added that "predictions about war scenarios are overhyped deliberately and for a certain reason."

Razov noted that Russia held annual military drills in about the same regions. The envoy emphasized that there was no political aspect to gas supply issues and operator companies in Italy and Russia regulated them based on commercial agreements.

Italian media outlets have recently increased their coverage of Russia’s position on the Ukrainian crisis, inviting various speakers, from experts to media workers. Earlier, Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova gave an interview to a TV channel owned by Italy’s Mediaset company.

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.