MOSCOW (Sputnik) – Russia has no plans to invade any country, and given its history is the last country in Europe which wants to even speak the word “war,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitri Peskov has said.
“We are calling for reason. We are urging [the West] to ask itself the question: What point would there be in Russia attacking anyone? We urge you to remember history. Let’s just say that, as we have seen recently, the West isn’t very good when it comes to history. But we remind you that Russia has never attacked anyone throughout its history,” Peskov said in an interview on Russian television on Sunday.
“And Russia, which has survived so many wars, is the last country in Europe that wants to speak about, even say the word ‘war’,” the spokesman added.
Peskov’s comments follow months of speculation by officials and media in the U.S. and among their NATO allies that Russia is preparing to launch an all-out attack against Ukraine. Last week, Politico, PBS and other outlets reported, citing officials, that Russia would definitely begin an invasion of Ukraine on 16 February. The ‘attack deadline’ came and passed without any incident, prompting outlets to establish a new deadline, now said to be sometime after 20 February.
On Friday, U.S. President Joe Biden declared that he was “convinced” that Russia’s Vladimir Putin had “made the decision” to invade Ukraine “in the coming days.” When asked to elaborate, Biden said the U.S. had “a significant intelligence capability” and abruptly ended the press conference.
On Sunday, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson claimed that Russia was planning “the biggest war in Europe since 1945,” adding that “people need to understand the sheer cost in human life that could entail.”
The West claims that the presence of Russian military forces is not diminishing, but on the contrary, growing.
Russia has lambasted the “unfounded accusations” by the U.S. and NATO that it was not withdrawing troops, saying it will take time to draw to a close the current military exercises.
Belarusian Defence Minister Viktor Khrenin announced Russia and Belarus will continue military drills due to the deterioration of the security situation in the Donbass.
“In connection with the increase in military activity near the external borders of the Union State [of Russia and Belarus] and the aggravation of the situation in the Donbass, the presidents of the Republic of Belarus and the Russian Federation have decided to continue checks of the response forces of the Union State,” Khrenin said Sunday.
The United States has given preliminary approval for a sale of battle tanks and other equipment to Poland as the U.S. continues to bolster NATO forces amid tensions over Ukraine.
Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said the sale worth $6 billion will “help to ensure a more equitable sharing of responsibilities within the alliance for our common defense.”
Austin said the time frame for delivery of the tanks was not determined yet as the sale is still subject to Congressional approval.
The Polish government requested 250 M1A2 Abrams Main Battle tanks, according to a press release from the Defense Security Cooperation Agency.
The Abrams tanks are a full-tracked, low-profile land combat assault weapon that comes with 120 mm main gun and special armor, according to the Army’s Acquisition Support Center.
The U.S. has already sent a total of 4,700 troops stationed at Fort Bragg, N.C., to Poland.