WASHINGTON, February 12. /TASS/. US officials’ claims that Russia is allegedly planning to attack Ukraine during or after the Beijing Olympics are absolutely groundless, Russian Ambassador to the United States Anatoly Antonov has told Newsweek.

"Politicians’ comments that Russia would 'attack' Ukraine during or after the Olympics, are not backed by evidence," the Russian embassy quoted the ambassador as saying on its Facebook page.

According to the ambassador, even US observers "note that US citizens are becoming increasingly distrustful of such baseless claims."

"In turn, the Russian leadership has repeatedly stated that our country is not going to attack anyone," he added.

White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan said on Friday that the alleged Russian invasion could begin at any time, including "during the [Beijing] Olympics, despite a lot of speculation that it would only happen after the Olympics." "We are not saying that a decision has been taken," he added.

At the same time, Sullivan provided no evidence to substantiate his allegations, claiming only that Russia increased the number of its troops deployed near the Ukrainian border.

Concerns over Moscow’s alleged preparations for an invasion into Ukraine have been increasingly announced in the West and in Kiev recently. Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov castigated these statements as an empty and groundless escalation of tension, emphasizing that Russia posed no threat to anyone. At the same time, the Kremlin press secretary did not exclude some possible provocations to justify such claims and warned that the attempts to resolve the Ukrainian conflict by force would carry extremely serious consequences.