MOSCOW 

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Wednesday, "hysteria about Russia's invasion of Ukraine" is far from its culmination.

He called on to have patience and urged the Western media to note in the new announcement "of Russia's alleged invasion" that their previous predictions did not come true.

"It is very important that representatives of the Western media at least at the end of the day each time noted that their prediction did not come true," Peskov said.

NATO does not see the return of the Russian troops to the places of permanent deployment because it has problems with "the evaluation system," he added.

Refuting allegations about Russia's possible invasion, Peskov put forward counter-warning, accusing Ukraine of concentrating forces at the contact line in Donbas, interpreting it as "a preparing attempt to implement force scenario."

"The danger of attack on DPR and LPR (so-called "Donetsk People's Republic" and "Luhansk People's Republic") remains high.

"We use all means to draw the attention of our interlocutors to this dangerous concentration (of the Ukrainian troops on the contact line), that a military offensive is very likely as well as an attempt of forceful resolution of problems in the southeast (of Ukraine)," he said.

The spokesman also called "controversial" the remarks of the Ukrainian authorities regarding the fulfilment of the Minsk Agreement, adding that some statements confirm commitment to the pact, others voice concern about "the end of Ukraine" in case of its implementation.

Peskov said Putin "was briefed and took into consideration" the appeal by the Russian State Duma about the recognition of Ukraine's rebel regions as independent states.

He noted that such a step contradicts the Minsk Agreement, an internationally recognized basis for the Ukrainian settlement.

Peskov denied Russia's involvement in the cyberattacks in Ukraine, saying, "Ukraine predictably blames Russia."

Commenting on the address by US President Joe Biden, in which he called on Russians, Peskov said the Russian people would like it more if it did not contain threats.

"These threats, repeated like a mantra on a daily basis, to be honest, we are already pretty fed up with them," he said.

The appeal would be more welcomed if Biden urged the Ukrainians to stop shooting each other, he continued.

However, it is positive that Biden demonstrates a willingness to move forward regarding Moscow's security proposals, he noted.

US president on Tuesday appealed directly to the Russians, saying the US and NATO, as well as Ukraine are not a threat to Russia, and reminding about Americans and Russians fighting on the same side during World War II.

He accompanied these remarks with warnings about sanctions to the Russian government.

Moscow, according to Ukrainian officials, recently amassed more than 100,000 troops near Ukraine, prompting fears that the Kremlin could be planning a military offensive against its ex-Soviet neighbor.

Russia has denied it is preparing to invade and accused Western countries of undermining its security through NATO's expansion towards its borders.

Russia also issued a list of security demands to the West, including a rollback of troop deployments from some ex-Soviet states and guarantees that some of those states would not join NATO.

In a written response to those demands, Washington said it is committed to upholding NATO's "open-door policy," while NATO also conveyed the alliance's own reply "in parallel with the United States."