Russia has said that the United States could not be trusted after US officials claimed to have evidence of a planned operation by Moscow to film a fake Ukrainian attack on Russians.
"I would recommend not to believe anyone, and especially the State Department, when it comes to these issues," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters.
Neither the Pentagon nor State Department spokesman Ned Price, who also commented on the alleged plan, offered evidence to back up the claim.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov has accused "Western colleagues" of making things up.
"The delusional nature of such fabrications - and there are more and more of them every day - is obvious to any more or less experienced political scientist," he said in televised remarks.
Macron, Scholz heading to Russia, Ukraine in bid to ease tensions
French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz will both visit Moscow and Kyiv this month amid a major European effort to ease tensions after Russia amassed tens of thousands of troops on the Ukrainian border, raising fears of an invasion.
Russia denies it plans to invade but has demanded wide-ranging security guarantees from the West, including that Ukraine never be allowed to join NATO.
Mr Macron will go to Russia on Monday to meet President Vladimir Putin and to Ukraine on Tuesday for talks with President Volodymyr Zelensky.
Mr Scholz will visit Kyiv on 14 February, his spokesman, a day before he holds talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow.
The French president, who has called for a de-escalation in the crisis, has over the last few days repeatedly held telephone talks with Mr Putin and Mr Zelensky as well as talking to US President Joe Biden.
His office said after Mr Macron's latest talks with Mr Putin and Mr Zelensky that the discussions sought "to identify the elements that should lead to a de-escalation".
In a possible nod to Russia's concerns about NATO expansion and US military presence in eastern Europe, it said exchanges had started on the "strategic balance" in Europe, which should make it possible to see "a reduction in the risks on the ground and guarantee security".
The French president has over the last years maintained that Europe must keep channels open to talk with Russia.
He has insisted that a "demanding dialogue" is preferable to open confrontation with Moscow in a fast-changing world dominated by the rise of China.
Mr Macron paid his only visit to Russia as president in May 2018 to attend the Saint Petersburg economic forum and meet Mr Putin.
His last face-to-face meeting with the Russian president dates back to a summit in summer 2019 at his residence in the south of France. A planned visit to Moscow in May 2020 was cancelled due to the pandemic.
Mr Scholz had said earlier this week he would travel to Moscow to discuss the crisis.
He and Mr Putin are also set to discuss the controversial Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline from Russia to Germany, among a host of other controversial bilateral and international issues.
Germany has traditionally been seen as more open to dealing with Russia than some other Western countries, but there are some sources of tensions.
Yesterday, Russia said it was closing the Moscow bureau of German broadcaster Deutsche Welle in response to Berlin's ban on the German-language channel of Russian state TV network RT.
