BEIJING, March 3 — The Chinese foreign ministry said today that reports on Chinese and Russian coordination ahead of Russia’s attack on Ukraine are "fake news.”

Such practices of diverting attention and shifting blame are "despicable”, said Wang Wenbin, spokesperson at the foreign ministry, at a regular media briefing.

Senior Chinese officials told senior Russian officials in early February not to invade Ukraine before the end of the Winter Olympics in Beijing, the New York Times reported, quoting Biden administration officials and a European official who cited a Western intelligence report. — Reuters