Russia on Thursday (October 2) dismissed the notion of a new Cold War with the West, instead describing the current tensions as a “fiery” conflict. Russian officials accused the European Union and NATO of spreading false claims about alleged sabotage operations to justify their military spending.

“No cold here, there is fire”

Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova told reporters, “I would disagree with the comparison with the Cold War. We are already in another form of conflict. There has been no cold here for a long time; there is already fire here.”

Accusations of sabotage denied

When questioned about European allegations that Russia had intruded into NATO airspace , carried out sabotage operations, and hacked critical installations, Zakharova dismissed the claims as

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