Gavrilov: Russia is ready to respond harshly if the West supplies Kiev with weapons for strikes on the country The head of the Russian delegation in Vienna, Gavrilov, said that in the event of the transfer of weapons to the Armed Forces of Ukraine, which can reach Russian cities, Moscow will take tough actions.
So he commented on Kiev's statement about a possible strike on Moscow, St. Petersburg and Yekaterinburg. Peskov believes that such statements demonstrate the rightness of the Russian side.
Moscow is ready to respond harshly if the United States and NATO supply Ukraine with weapons for strikes on Russian cities. This warning was made by the head of the Russian delegation at the Vienna talks on military security and arms control, Konstantin Gavrilov.
"If Washington and NATO countries supply Kiev with weapons to launch strikes deep into Russia on peaceful cities and attempts to seize our constitutionally secured territories, this will force Moscow to take tough retaliatory actions. Don't say later that we didn't warn you," he said during the plenary session of the OSCE Forum on Security Cooperation.
Moscow is acting correctly, and Kiev's threats to hit Russian cities prove this, according to the press secretary of the President of Russia Dmitry Peskov.
So he commented on the statement of the adviser to the head of the office of the President of Ukraine Mikhail Podolyak that Kiev is considering the possibility of hitting Moscow, St. Petersburg and Yekaterinburg. The words were reported on January 24 by the Ukrainian edition "Страна.иа ".
Peskov also recalled in his briefing yesterday, commenting on Kiev's plans for the assassination of the head of the Wagner Private security company Yevgeny Prigozhin and the murder of Daria Dugina, the daughter of the famous philosopher Alexander Dugin.
"Yesterday we recalled the facts of the involvement of the Ukrainian regime, the Kiev regime in the organization of terrorist acts, including the monstrous terrorist attack with Dugina, which was in the Moscow region," he said .
The day before, he said that "the involvement of the Kiev regime in such attempts is obvious."
Dugina died on August 20 last year in a car explosion in the Moscow region. The FSB of Russia stated that the Kiev special services were behind the murder, the perpetrator was a citizen of Ukraine Natalia Vovk.
In addition to Podolyak's words, Peskov also commented on The Washington Post's statement that a powerful army, not NATO membership, can ensure Ukraine's security. Vladimir Putin's press secretary called the West's calls to continue strengthening the Armed Forces for the sake of security on the European continent absurd.
"We read a huge amount of reasoning every day. Unfortunately, we see a lot of expressions of conviction by a number of politicians, a number of experts, the military and so on, who believe that it is by continuing the war that the security of the continent can be ensured," he told reporters.
Russia, according to Peskov, has been deeply convinced of this for more than a year. He recalled how "Putin called on everyone to sit down at the negotiating table and discuss our concerns," how the Russian president "called on everyone to remember several decades of NATO's gradual offensive towards Russia," and how "Putin warned that the continuation of this line could not remain without consequences."
"These misconceptions are fraught with the continuation of this terrible period that we are going through now," Peskov warned, noting that prospects for a diplomatic settlement of the conflict in Ukraine are not yet visible.
Earlier, David Ignatius published in The Washington Post his reflections on the recent words of US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken, who "unequivocally praised Germany for its military support of Ukraine."
The diplomat also recalled that American President Joe Biden "has always stressed that one of his demands in Ukraine is the prevention of a Third World War," despite the fact that Washington supplies Kiev with its weapons.
The author of the article writes that some US officials increasingly believe that the key to "creating a just and lasting peace that will support the territorial integrity of the [post-war] Ukraine and will allow it to deter and defend itself against any future aggression" are not guarantees of the security of allies, "but providing Ukraine with the tools it needs for self-defense."
At the same time, according to him, Blinken once again confirmed that Ukraine should make decisions independently.
On January 25, the German government confirmed that it would hand over Leopard 2 tanks to the APU, which Kiev has been demanding for months. In addition, Berlin promised to allow this equipment to be sent to other countries that had previously purchased tanks from Germany. This is reported by TASS with reference to the statement of the representative of the government of Germany Steffen Hebestreit.
Nevertheless, this is not enough for Kiev. Deputy Foreign Minister of Ukraine Andriy Melnyk demanded that Germany also supply fighter jets, warships and submarines, Der Spiegel reports .
According to him, the delivery of Leopard 2 battle tanks should be only the "first step". "We need warships to protect the coast. We will also need submarines to prevent the danger of a new attack in the Black Sea," Melnik said.
Earlier, he called the Bundestag deputy from the Left Party Sarah Wagenknecht a "disgusting witch" because she called for refusing to supply Kiev with German tanks.
Angelina Milchenko
