RUSSIA accused US intelligence services on Saturday of running a “psy-ops” campaign through the Bloomberg media outlet as it refused to rule out military provocations in Ukraine.

Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova was speaking after a Bloomberg article claimed that Chinese President Xi Jinping had told Russia not to invade Ukraine during the Winter Olympics “in order not to ruin the celebration.”

She said the story had been concocted by US intelligence services and that the “one diplomat in China” it cited was in fact a US national.

“It is no longer a fake but already a special information operation by US respective agencies through Bloomberg,” Ms Zakharova said.

“No-one who was supposed or who was likely to have this information was approached by ‘Bloomberg undercover journalists’ for confirmation. 

“Although Bloomberg used to abide by a ‘golden rule’ in the old and not so evil days that at least two, or even three, verified sources should confirm the information obtained.”

Tensions have continued to build between the US and Russia, with the Western mainstream media claiming that the world is on the brink of war and portraying Moscow as the aggressor.

However, Russian President Vladimir Putin has insisted that the country prefers diplomacy and his government has tabled security proposals in two draft treaties, which will be discussed again this week.

The US has so far rejected demands not to allow Ukraine to join Nato, reneging on a promise not to expand the alliance eastwards that was made to former Soviet president Mikhail Gorbachev.

Washington has also increased military support to Ukraine and has troops and nuclear weapons deployed along Russian borders.

“We are expecting provocations from the US and the Kiev regime led by them, both informational and — it cannot be ruled out — military ones,” Ms Zakharova said. 

“They may do it, especially since they have a plenty of experience.”