Kremlin says Putin’s ‘I can take Kyiv’ remark misquoted
Against a backdrop of the start of fledgling peace talks over Ukraine, a top Kremlin aide accused EU Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso Tuesday of breaching diplomatic confidentiality and of taking words out of context by quoting President Vladimir Putin as saying that he could be in Kyiv, the Ukrainian capital, within two weeks if he wanted.
The Russian president allegedly made the comments during a phone conversation about the Ukraine crisis with Barroso, who reportedly related them to colleagues at last week’s European Union summit.
“If I want to, I can take Kyiv in two weeks,” Italy’s La Repubblica newspaper quoted Putin as saying, implying that this could be the fallout if the EU stepped up sanctions against Russia.
In Moscow, Yuri Ushakov, Putin’s foreign policy adviser, pushed back strongly, telling reporters that the president’s statement, as apparently quoted by Barroso, was “taken out of context and carried a completely different meaning,” the Russian ITAR-TASS news agency reports.
Putin’s comment reportedly came in response to Barroso pointing out Ukrainian and Western claims that Russia had sharply escalated the conflict in eastern Ukraine by sending regular army units into Ukraine.
NATO has estimated that at least 1,000 Russian soldiers have entered Ukraine, helping turn the tide in favor of pro-Russian insurgents.
Ushakov accused Barroso of violating diplomatic practices to speak publicly about a private conversation. “If that was really done, it looks not worthy of a serious political figure,” Ushakov said. “Irrespective of whether these words were pronounced or not, this quote was taken out of context and had a very different meaning.”
The war of words from Moscow emerged as representatives of Ukraine, Russia, pro-Russian rebels and the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe are holding talks in Minsk, the Belarus capital, to try to resolve the festering Ukraine crisis.
The talks on Monday lasted several hours and were adjourned until Friday, when the parties are expected to discuss specifics of a possible cease-fire and a prisoners’ exchange.
In Moscow, Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov on Tuesday urged the United States to use its influence in Ukraine to encourage efforts to reach a political settlement. “It’s necessary to restrain the party of war in Kyiv, and only the United States can do it,” he said at a briefing.
Lavrov also said that “compromise” is the only way to resolve the crisis and accused the West of supporting Kyiv and undermining the peace process.
The Ukraine crisis will be high on the agenda for President Barack Obama, who was scheduled to leave Tuesday for a four-day European trip meant to reassure NATO allies and send a stern message to Russia over the crisis in Ukraine.
Obama will also attend a NATO summit in Wales on Thursday that will include Ukraine President Petro Poroshenko.
Ukrainian forces and pro-Russian separatists have been battling since mid-April in eastern Ukraine, with rebels claiming independence for the Donetsk and Luhansk regions. More than 2,500 have died in the fighting.
In the latest clashes, rebels have opened up a new front in the war with an offensive along the coast of the Sea of Azov. Ukraine has charged that Russian military equipment and troops crossed the border last week to bolster the offensive.
Russia has denied sending any soldiers or equipment to the rebels, although rebels have acknowledged that fighters include Russian “volunteers” and some Russian soldiers on home leave.