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WASHINGTON:US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Wednesday he is highly skeptical of any allegations made by Russia, after Moscow claimed Kyiv had launched a drone attack on the Kremlin.
“I’ve seen the reports. I cannot validate them, we simply don’t know,” Blinken said at an event in Washington on press freedoms. “I would take anything coming out of the Kremlin with a very large shaker of salt.”
Russia said two drones targeted Putin’s Kremlin residence at night, describing it as a Ukrainian “terrorist attack” ahead of the important May 9 holiday, when Russia celebrates victory over Nazi Germany in World War II.
Kyiv denied the claim, suggesting the attack was “staged” by Moscow.
“Ukraine has nothing to do with drone attacks on the Kremlin,” presidential spokesman Mikhaylo Podolyak said.
At the event on Wednesday, hosted by the Washington Post for World Press Freedom Day, Blinken also discussed the recent leak of top-secret US documents.
The embarrassing security breach revealed US unease about a coming counteroffensive by Kyiv’s forces against Russian troops as well as concerns about Ukrainian air defenses.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky complained in a Washington Post interview published Tuesday that his government had not been warned about the leak, calling it “a bad story.”
Blinken said he told his Ukrainian counterpart Dmytro Kuleba at the time that “we very much regretted the unauthorized exposure of these documents, that we took very seriously our obligations and responsibility to protect information.”
The top US diplomat also spoke positively about last week’s telephone call between Chinese leader Xi Jinping and Zelensky.
“It’s vitally important that China and other countries that have been seeking to advance peace hear from the victim, not just the aggressor,” he said.
“I’ve seen the reports. I cannot validate them, we simply don’t know,” Blinken said at an event in Washington on press freedoms. “I would take anything coming out of the Kremlin with a very large shaker of salt.”
Russia said two drones targeted Putin’s Kremlin residence at night, describing it as a Ukrainian “terrorist attack” ahead of the important May 9 holiday, when Russia celebrates victory over Nazi Germany in World War II.
Kyiv denied the claim, suggesting the attack was “staged” by Moscow.
“Ukraine has nothing to do with drone attacks on the Kremlin,” presidential spokesman Mikhaylo Podolyak said.
At the event on Wednesday, hosted by the Washington Post for World Press Freedom Day, Blinken also discussed the recent leak of top-secret US documents.
The embarrassing security breach revealed US unease about a coming counteroffensive by Kyiv’s forces against Russian troops as well as concerns about Ukrainian air defenses.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky complained in a Washington Post interview published Tuesday that his government had not been warned about the leak, calling it “a bad story.”
Blinken said he told his Ukrainian counterpart Dmytro Kuleba at the time that “we very much regretted the unauthorized exposure of these documents, that we took very seriously our obligations and responsibility to protect information.”
The top US diplomat also spoke positively about last week’s telephone call between Chinese leader Xi Jinping and Zelensky.
“It’s vitally important that China and other countries that have been seeking to advance peace hear from the victim, not just the aggressor,” he said.
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