RUSSIA is watching with great concern, a Kremlin spokesman said today, as the United States continues its aggressive drive to war, with more than 8,000 US troops ready to be deployed to Europe.

Dmitry Peskov accused Washington of fuelling tensions over Ukraine, insisting that the crisis is being driven by Nato and US actions in the region.

Moscow has reiterated calls for diplomacy and laid out security demands earlier this month in two treaties, which have been rejected by Washington. It is expecting a written response this week.

Russia insists that it is not the instigator but the target of aggression, citing as evidence the US delivery of a package of “lethal aid,” including 90 tons of weapons, to Kiev on Sunday.

Nato said on Monday that it was putting its forces on standby and reinforcing its members in eastern Europe with more ships and fighter jets, a move that Russia denounced as Western “hysteria.”

Mr Peskov said that the mobilisation of Russian troops was in response to Nato’s “increased activities near our borders, [which] cannot be ignored by our military, which is responsible for the security of our country.”

Moscow has denounced a propaganda war being waged through the Western mainstream media as part of a “py-ops” campaign by intelligence services to soften up public opinion for war.

Last weekend, Britain’s Foreign Office claimed to know of plans to install a pro-Russian puppet government in Kiev, naming four Ukrainian politicians allegedly involved in the plot.

But Moscow condemned this as “misinformation” and one of a number of deliberate provocations aimed at escalating tensions.

In 2014, Britain and the US were among the countries that backed the fascist-led overthrow of Ukraine’s democratically elected government after then president Viktor Yanukovich had rejected a deal with the European Union.