Russian presidential spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said Saturday that Bloomberg’s erroneous publication of a headline that said Russia had attacked Ukraine demonstrates the “dangerous” level of tensions in the world.
“This situation makes it clear how dangerous such tensions are, which have been triggered by daily aggressive statements that we keep hearing from Washington, European capitals and London,” Peskov was quoted as saying in Tass, the Russian news agency.
Bloomberg had published a headline that read “Russia invades Ukraine” on its site Friday afternoon, but subsequently removed it and admitted it was published by mistake.
“We prepare headlines for many scenarios and the headline ‘Russia Invades Ukraine’ was inadvertently published around 4 p.m. ET today on our website. We deeply regret the error. The headline has been removed and we are investigating the cause,” the news organization said in a statement Friday evening.
Peskov did say he did not believe Bloomberg’s mistake was intended as “a provocation.”
Russia and Western leaders, including President Joe Biden, have been at odds over Russia’s increased military presence on Ukraine’s border amid fears that Russia is planning to launch an invasion of its neighbor. Ukraine was part of the Soviet Union until it was dissolved in 1991, and Russia annexed Crimea, a region of Ukraine, in 2014.
