Russia’s President Vladimir Putin has accused the US of trying to draw his country into war in Ukraine.
He said America’s goal was to use a confrontation as a pretext to impose more sanctions on Russia. Putin also said the US was ignoring Russia’s concerns about the European expansion of Nato – the Western military alliance.
The US and its allies accuse Russia of planning to invade Ukraine, something Russia has repeatedly denied.
On Tuesday, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken tweeted that the US was “committed to preventing a conflict that is in no one’s interest”.
Meanwhile, Spanish newspaper El Pais has released what it says are confidential documents the US and Nato sent to Russia last week – including offers in exchange for reducing tensions over Ukraine.
A Nato official said the alliance never comments on alleged leaks. President Putin’s spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said Moscow was aware of the report, but that they did not publish it and did not want to comment on it.
In recent weeks, Russia has moved about 100,000 troops – equipped with everything from tanks and artillery to ammunition and air power – to Ukraine’s border.
It comes eight years after the country annexed Ukraine’s southern Crimea peninsula and backed a bloody rebellion in the eastern Donbas region.
