Washington. February 12. INTERFAX - US President Joe Biden, during a videoconference with allies from the European Union and NATO, said that according to American intelligence, Russia will begin military operations against Ukraine on February 16, the American edition of Politico reported, citing sources from among officials.
Biden's national security adviser Jake Sullivan also claimed that Russia would launch an "invasion" even "during the Olympic Games", which are being held in Beijing and will close on February 20.
Bloomberg, citing "officials familiar with the situation" but not named, claimed that "any action could begin as early as Tuesday," although "Russia's final intentions are unknown."
At the same time, as Politico writes, "the Europeans, however, made it clear that they have a different picture."
So, the newspaper writes, the representative of the UK said that "they have a different interpretation" of the intelligence regarding February 16.
She said that "two European diplomats expressed even more skeptical views, with one of them saying that they "still refuse to buy it."
The publication writes: "It is possible that the intelligence regarding February 16 is raw and not a general assessment of the United States."
The dossier published by the Russian Foreign Ministry says: "A coordinated information attack is being conducted against Moscow aimed at undermining and discrediting Russia's just demands for security guarantees, as well as justifying Western geopolitical aspirations and military development of the territory of Ukraine."
The official representative of the Russian Foreign Ministry, Maria Zakharova, referring to the latest statements of American officials, called them "hysterical."
"The White House hysteria is more revealing than ever. The Anglo-Saxons need a war. At any cost," Zakharova told reporters.
According to her, "provocations, disinformation and threats are a favorite method of solving their own problems."
Russian Ambassador to Washington Anatoly Antonov, in response to a request from Newsweek to comment on Sullivan's statements at a briefing about a hypothetical Russian invasion, said that such statements are a manifestation of the desire of the American administration to increase the degree of the propaganda campaign against the Russian Federation.
"Washington only continues to "throw dust in the eyes", based on some intelligence, the details of which it does not give. Even local observers note that the confidence of American citizens in such unfounded allegations has sharply decreased," the ambassador said.
