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Relocation of additional NATO forces in Eastern Europe escalates tensions — Kremlin

This process is also facilitated by the "informational hysteria," Dmitry Peskov also noted

MOSCOW, January 24. /TASS/. The NATO statement about the reinforcement of the eastern flank and relocation of forces there increase security tensions, the Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Monday.

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No plans to evacuate diplomats from Ukraine as long as talks continue — EU top diplomat

"As for concrete actions, we see the statements published by NATO about the increase of the contingent and relocations of forces and means to the eastern flank. All this leads to an escalation of tensions," the spokesman told journalists.

"I would like to point out that all this is happening not because of what we, Russia, do. All this is happening because of what NATO, the US do, and because of the information they spread," Peskov underscored.

According to the spokesman, the escalation of tensions is also facilitated by the "informational hysteria," initiated by the US and its allies.

"Overall, we state and want draw your attention to the fact that the escalation of tensions is happening by informational activity and concrete actions undertaken by the US and NATO," the spokesman said. "When I speak about informational activity, I mean the informational hysteria that we all witness. It is generously supplemented with a huge amount of fake information and deliberate lies."

In particular, Peskov mentioned a fake piece of information introduced a few days ago that Moscow was allegedly evacuating its diplomatic mission in Kiev.

"[This] was an outcome [of such] hysteria, but, at the end of the day, it all boiled down to a recommendation of the US Department of State," the spokesman noted.

Situation in Ukraine

Earlier, the US Department ordered families of the US Embassy employees in Kiev to leave Ukraine and allowed a part of the embassy staff to do it voluntarily. The Department said it recommended US citizens to refrain from visiting Ukraine due to an "escalated threat of Russian hostilities." The Department also noted that the embassy will continue its operation, and these measures "will not affect Washington’s support for Kiev in any way."

Previously on Monday, NATO published a statement saying that NATO is sending additional forces to Eastern Europe due to the situation around Ukraine. The document underscored that a number of NATO allies made statements about an ongoing or an upcoming deployment of forces in Eastern Europe, welcomed by NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg.

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Ukraine crisis Ukraine United States NATO

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