MOSCOW, December 1. /TASS/. Russia doesn’t plan to attack Ukraine, and assertions about a possible attack are lies, Federation Council Speaker Valentina Matviyenko told reporters on Wednesday.

"There are no grounds for these assertions,’’ she said. ‘’They are lies, nonsense and it is dirty politics."

"Russia wasn’t going to, isn’t going to and won’t attack Ukraine," Matviyenko went on to say.

She said the government of Ukraine is using these assertions to divert attention from the country’s dire economic and social situation while NATO and others, who want Russian-Ukrainian relations to deteriorate further, throw their weight behind the notion of an external threat to Ukraine.

"Neither Russian citizens nor Ukrainian citizens want these tensions,’’ she said. ‘’We are brothers. We’ve been together for so many years."

Earlier, Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Russia registered an information campaign emanating from the West that seeks to represent Moscow as a threat to the settlement in Ukraine. He said the campaign might be a cover for ‘’aggressive intentions that may be taking place in Kiev." He said it was inappropriate to interpret all movements of Russian armed forces on Russia’s soil as aggressive plans.