The media is publishing numerous "horror stories" about Russia and the conflict in Ukraine. This was stated by the press secretary of the Russian President Dmitry Peskov at a briefing, commenting on the article in The Wall Street Journal, which allegedly states that a Russian invasion of a NATO country is being prepared, Gazeta writes.
WSJ explained that CIA Director John Ratcliffe's visit to Moscow was to issue a warning not to attack NATO member states. According to the information, the escalation of the conflict in Ukraine includes an attack on Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia. Thus, Putin would test NATO's readiness for a collective response to aggression.
"Recently, many such terrifying stories have been published. Of course, this has nothing to do with reality and has nothing to do with the intentions of the Russian Federation,“ the Kremlin spokesman noted.
Peskov stressed that Russia prefers to achieve its goals peacefully, but it lacks this opportunity, which is why Moscow continues a special military operation to ensure its security and interests in the context of the conflict over Ukraine.
The Director of the Foreign Intelligence Service of the Russian Federation, Sergei Naryshkin, confirmed that he had spoken with the head of the US CIA, John Ratcliffe, in Moscow.