MOSCOW, Sept 23 (Reuters) – The Kremlin said on Wednesday that British Prime Minister Andy Burnham had unwisely chosen to stir up anti-Russian sentiment in a speech to the UN General Assembly in which he accused Russia of spreading lies and disinformation, something it said would do nothing to ease tensions in Europe.
Burnham told the United Nations on Tuesday that London would set up a new National Centre for Information Defence and singled out Moscow for particular criticism when it came to spreading what he called disinformation.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that Burnham’s approach – and that of other European countries, was flawed.
“Well, the British Prime Minister said nothing new. That is the first point. The second is that stoking anti-Russian sentiment and fostering an atmosphere of total Russophobia is what Britain is doing. And now, presumably in unison with Britain, the Germans, the French and a number of other European states are doing the same thing,” said Peskov.
“From our point of view, this is an utterly short-sighted policy. It in no way brings us any closer to any steps that might, in the long term, lead to a reduction in tensions and de-escalation on the European continent.”
(Reporting by Dmitry AntonovWriting by Alessandra Prentice Editing by Andrew Osborn )
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