Russia denies asking China for help, could take full control of major Ukrainian cities, says Kremlin
- Asked about remarks by US officials who’d said that Russia had asked China for military equipment, spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said: ‘No’
- He also said defence ministry ‘does not exclude taking major population centres under full control while ensuring maximum safety of civilians’
The Kremlin said on Monday it had sufficient military clout to fulfil all of its aims in Ukraine without any help from China and that Russian forces could take full control of major Ukrainian cities.
The United States and its European allies have cast President Vladimir Putin’s invasion as an imperial-style land grab that they say has so far been poorly executed because Moscow underestimated Ukrainian resistance and Western resolve to punish Russia.
When asked about remarks by US officials who had said that Russia had asked China for military equipment, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said: “No.”
He also said that the defence ministry “of the Russian Federation, while ensuring the maximum safety of the civilian population, does not exclude the possibility of taking major population centres under full control”.
He said claims by the United States and European Union that Putin was somehow disappointed with the progress of what the Kremlin casts as a special military operation amounted to a provocation aimed at prompting Russia to storm cities.