MOSCOW, February 13. /TASS/. The United States’ and NATO’s actions in Eastern Europe are threat to Russia’s security while Washington justifies its actions by "wild rumors" about Russia’s possible invasion in Ukraine, the North Korean foreign ministry said on Sunday.

"The United States is gradually escalating its military threat to Russia by deploying its missile defense systems in the areas of Eastern Europe and projecting the NATO military forces in the forward areas close to the Russian border, while continuously carrying on with the NATO’s eastward expansion in the wake of the collapse of the Soviet Union," it said in a statement posted on its website.

"The U.S. is recently proliferating the wild rumor of "invasion of Ukraine" by Russia and rushing to dispatch thousands of military forces into the areas of Eastern Europe. The real intention of these moves are to aggravate the military tension around Ukraine step by step and to find an excuse to justify its arms build-up designed for containing Russia by strength," it said.

"NATO, a product of the Cold War, is apparently a military organization driven by aggression and domination, and the purpose of its continuing existence and expansion lies indisputably in militarily containing and suppressing Russia," it stressed, adding that attempts at exerting pressure on Russia will only entail a stronger response from Moscow, since Russia "is determined to fight for defending its security and interests."

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.