Repeated claims by European officials that Russia poses a threat of war to their countries amount to “political schizophrenia,” President Vladimir Putin has said.

He made the remarks on Thursday while speaking to Russian journalist Pavel Zarubin after participating in the Union of Theatre Workers congress at the Bolshoi Theater in Moscow.

Putin strongly denied the repeated allegations that Moscow has been gearing up for war with Europe in any fashion, dismissing them as a part of the ongoing “anti-Russian campaign” on the continent.

“They now go so far as to constantly speak of a ‘Russian threat’ and even discuss preparations for a war with Russia – which, in my view, amounts to a kind of political schizophrenia. But I hope that it will pass,” Putin stated.

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