Russia Accuses European Leaders of Inventing Threats

Russia has accused European leaders of inventing threats about Russia and China to frighten their populations. European leaders have warned of potential Russian expansion beyond Ukraine, but Russia denies such intentions, labeling it a tactic to keep people in fear.

Russia on Wednesday accused European leaders of trying to frighten their populations with what it said was the invented threats that Russia and China allegedly pose to the continent. European leaders have repeatedly warned that Moscow could expand its war in Ukraine, something it calls a special military operation, to other European countries. Russia has denied such intentions.

"European leaders are trying to keep their peoples in constant fear of a non-existent threat from the east that they have invented," Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova told reporters in Moscow. She said European leaders cast Russia and China as threats to the West, but that Russia had fought off many attacks that had originated in the West in its history.