According to Lavrov, Moscow will send the United States its response to the security counter-proposals today.
Marrakesh, 17 Feb. (Morocco-News) –
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov stressed on Thursday that the situation regarding an increase in tension on the border with Ukraine “is taking place in the minds” of the United States and its allies and denied that it is real on the ground.
“This whole situation is not happening on the territory of Russia, it is happening in the minds and the media, above all in the United States and the United Kingdom,” Lavrov said during a meeting with his Italian counterpart Luigi Di Maio.
“Any questions regarding how to solve what they call escalation, you should ask,” he stressed, before also accusing NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg of amplifying fears regarding it, according to the Russian news agency Sputnik.
He also said that Moscow will send its response to the United States on Thursday on the counter-proposals presented by Washington on European security issues. “We are finalizing the analysis of the US response,” he said.
Mr. Lavrov also explained that the letter will be made public following it is sent. “We believe this is necessary for civil society in our countries to know what is happening,” he said. “Otherwise, if secrecy is maintained, as Washington and Brussels prefer, public opinion will be inundated with the lies and crude propaganda that today saturate the information space,” he said.
In recent days, Russia announced the withdrawal of its forces from the border area with Ukraine, including the Crimean peninsula, although the United States was skeptical. In fact, a senior US official said Wednesday that troop numbers had increased by 7,000 in the past few days.
Tensions around Ukraine have been heightened in recent months by the deployment of Russian troops along the country’s border, which the international community has seen as possible preparation for an “invasion”. Russia rejected these accusations and accused NATO of increasing its military activity in the region.