Russia has accused Washington of stoking "hysteria" over the crisis on the Ukrainian border, as the US Ambassador to the United Nations warned "the consequences will be horrific" if Russia invades.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters that Washington and US outlets have played up fears of a Russian invasion.

"To our dismay, American media have lately been publishing a very large amount of unverified, distorted and deliberately deceitful information about what's happening in Ukraine and around it," Peskov said Monday.

"Hysteria hyped up by Washington is causing hysteria in Ukraine, almost to the point that people are packing their bags for the front. It's a fact," added Peskov, commenting on Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky's disagreements with the US on the level of the Russian threat.

On a call last week, which a senior Ukrainian official described to CNN as "long and frank," US President Joe Biden warned his Ukrainian counterpart that a Russian attack may be imminent.

Zelensky, however, restated his position that the threat from Russia remains "dangerous but ambiguous," and it is not certain that an attack will take place, the official said.

On Monday, Peskov called on the US and its European allies "to take a more constructive approach," and said the recent threat of sanctions from the United Kingdom is "extremely worrying."

"It's cause for serious concern for international financial structures and businesses," Peskov said. "It's an open attack on business."

UK Foreign Secretary Liz Truss said this weekend that the country would introduce new legislation broadening sanctions and targeting specific individuals close to the Kremlin if Russia invades Ukraine.

The Biden administration has also identified several elite Russian government officials and business leaders that the US intends to sanction if Russia invades Ukraine, a senior administration official told CNN.

"In general, the Anglo-Saxons are widely escalating tensions on the European continent," Peskov said.

Diplomatic efforts to de-escalate the situation are ongoing. Last week both the US and NATO presented Moscow with written responses aimed at deterring a Russian incursion of Ukraine. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said Thursday that the letters failed to address Moscow's concerns over the eastward expansion of the military alliance.

On Monday, a senior US State Department official said that Russia responded in writing to the US' written response.

Moscow's response comes ahead of a planned phone conversation between US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov on Tuesday.

Also on Tuesday, UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson will fly to Ukraine for talks, where he will announce £88 million (approximately $118 million) in new funding, according to a Downing Street statement. (CNN)

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