"@SkyNews understands that the @FCDOGovUK claim about Russia scheming to install a pro-Kremlin government in Kyiv is based on US-led intelligence, rather than UK-led intelligence", Deborah Haynes, security and defence editor at Sky News, wrote on Twitter.
The statement of the UK Foreign Office came just a few hours after the Russian Foreign Ministry warned about the impending information and military provocations from the West, in particular the United States, with the aim to escalate the situation around Ukraine.
Earlier in the day, London has accused Russia of allegedly trying to install a "pro-Russian leader" in Ukraine, naming former Ukrainian lawmaker Yevhen Murayev as a potential candidate. The UK did not provide any evidence to support its claims. Moscow has denied allegations and urged London to stop provocations.
Murayev, who has been under the Russian sanctions since 2018, responded by saying that his family has assets arrested in Russia and suggested asking "Mr. Bean" for clarifications on the UK's claims.
Members of the US Army's 4th Infantry Division 3rd Brigade Combat Team 68th Armoured Regiment 1st Battalion stand in front of an Abrams battle tank after arriving at the Gaiziunai railway station, some 110 kms (69 miles) west of the capital Vilnius, Lithuania, Friday, 10 February 2017.
© AP Photo / Mindaugas Kulbis
London's allegation about Murayev is the second questionable statement on Ukraine coming from the British diplomacy under the leadership of Liz Truss in the last two days. On Friday, speaking at the Lowy Institute think tank in Sydney, Truss said that Ukraine had survived many invasions, "from the Mongols to the Tatars", prompting Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova to question the quality of education the UK top diplomat received.