Tuesday's talks between the Russian and US presidents come at a very “complex” moment, with strained relations further complicated by "fake news" alleging an imminent invasion of Ukraine by Moscow, the Kremlin has told RT.
“We are seeing a lot of fake news about the allegedly planned ‘aggression’ of Russia against Ukraine being peddled,” Dmitry Peskov told RT in an exclusive interview ahead of the talks between his boss, Russian President Vladimir Putin, and American leader Joe Biden.
“At the same time, we do not hear a single word addressed to Ukraine, not a single warning addressed to Kiev so that they would not even think about trying to resolve the situation in the southeast [of Ukraine] by force,” he added.
The US-led NATO alliance has been extremely aggressive towards Russia lately, Peskov said, arguing that it further complicates the situation ahead of the talks. The bloc’s activities are very “concerning” for Moscow, he added, stressing that the country is taking steps to protect its interests.
“We are seeing NATO exhibiting an extremely hostile stance, we are hearing rhetoric from [NATO Secretary General Jens] Stoltenberg, rhetoric of various representatives of the US. All of them are talking about non-recognition of any ‘red lines,’ that NATO will do whatever it wants, wherever it wants – and all of that to ‘contain’ Russia,” the official said.
The rare talks between the two presidents will be held through a secure video link. The channel was established years ago under previous US administrations, “when something constructive was still present” in US-Russian relations, Peskov revealed.
The online meeting comes five months after Putin and Biden met in Geneva. While both presidents described those talks as productive, they did not bring any breakthrough for Russian-American ties, which have continued going on a downward spiral.
