Ahead of the expected call tomorrow between US President Biden and Russian President Vladimir Putin, the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs is saying that Western countries and the media are spreading a "large-scale disinformation campaign" that promotes the thesis about an allegedly impending Russian invasion of Ukraine.
"At the end of 2021 and the beginning of 2022, the global information space faced a media campaign unprecedented in its scale and sophistication, the purpose of which is to convince the world community that the Russian Federation is preparing an invasion of the territory of Ukraine," according to a ministry statement Friday published on its website.
The ministry accused Western countries and Western media of spreading disinformation "in order to divert attention from their own aggressive actions."
What the US is saying about Russia-Ukraine tensions: President Biden's national security adviser Jack Sullivan warned a Russian assault on Ukraine could begin soon, beginning with aerial bombings and missile attacks. He advised all Americans to depart the country for their own safety as quickly as possible.
Earlier Friday, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said the US believes a Russian invasion of Ukraine could begin "at any time," including during the ongoing Olympics in Beijing. He also said the US continues "to see very troubling signs of Russian escalation, including new forces arriving at the Ukrainian border."
CNN's Maegan Vazquez, Kevin Liptak, Natasha Bertrand, Kylie Atwood and Kaitlan Collins contributed reporting to this post.