Moscow is not planning an attack against any country: Russian envoy

Russia's ambassador to the European Union was quoted as declaring on Thursday that the country is not planning a military invasion of Ukraine, after Moscow alarmed the West with a large soldier build-up near the Ukrainian border.

In an interview with the German newspaper Die Welt, Vladimir Chizhov stated that Russia intended to support Russian-speaking people and compatriots in other countries, but that Moscow has never stated that it wished to use military methods to do so.

"Russia has no intention of attacking any country.I can tell you that no Russian soldiers are ready to invade Ukraine at this time," Vladimir Chizhov said.

Watch | Tensions run high between Russia and West over Ukraine; no in-person meet between Biden, Putin

In a standoff with the US over Ukraine, Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Tuesday that Russia had no place to retreat and would be obliged to respond harshly unless the West withdrew its "aggressive line." 

Putin delivered his remarks to military officers as Russia sought for a quick response from the US and NATO to its demands for a binding set of security guarantees from the West presented last week.