Kremlin spokesman calls reports 'fake' concerning U.S. offer to exchange Ukraine territories for peace

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov characterized reports as "fake" that said the U.S. offered Ukraine to give up 20% of its territory in exchange for peace with Russia.

"It's a fake," Peskov said at a news conference and in response to a question if CIA head William Burns visited Russia in January, he said: "In January? The entire report is fake."

Concerning claims that Ukraine's Interior Ministry started forming assault troops for an offensive in Donbas and Crimea, Peskov said Donbas "is not fully protected," which is the reason why Russia's "special military operation" continues.

He said border points with Mongolia and Georgia were temporarily closed because of weather conditions and there are no reasons to doubt the information.

Peskov said Moscow is against a Western embargo on deliveries of Russian oil products taking effect Feb. 5 and it will lead to a further imbalance of energy markets.

"Naturally, we are taking measures to hedge our interests from the risks that arise in this regard," said Peskov.

Commenting on remarks by Serbian President Alexandr Vucic, who said Serbia may one day have to join anti-Russian sanctions, he said: "We are well aware of the unprecedented pressure that the leadership of Serbia is under from the collective West."

He said Russia "highly appreciates" the position of Serbian leadership and hopes bilateral relations will continue to develop upward.

In November, EU energy ministers agreed on a gas price cap of €180 ($190) per megawatt hour in the bloc, weeks after imposing an embargo on seaborne imports of Russian crude oil at a price cap of $60 per barrel starting Dec. 5.

An EU ban on imports of petroleum products from Russia will take effect Feb. 5.