Russia has no plans directed against NATO countries, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said, responding to reports in the English-language media about the content of a meeting with John Ratcliffe, director of the US Central Intelligence Agency (CIA).

According to Peskov, Western media are using such reports to scare the public. “There are a lot of such horror stories [about Russia's plans against NATO] being published right now. Of course, they have nothing to do with reality and nothing to do with the intentions of the Russian Federation”, he said.

The Kremlin spokesman also claimed that Moscow faced aggressive policies from European countries and dismissed contrary assertions as “distortions of reality”.

Peskov had previously commented on the reason for Ratcliffe’s visit to Moscow. The CIA director spent approximately 10 hours in the Russian capital.

(aif, bak)