Putin: ‘If I Want, I Will Take Kyiv In Two Weeks’
The Italian newspaper “Le Repubblica” printed an article on September 1 that reported Russian President Vladimir Putin told outgoing European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso, “If I want, I could take Kyiv in two weeks.”
The Italian newspaper reported Putin made the comment during a phone call with Barroso and Barroso relayed the statement to European leaders at an EU summit in Brussels on August 30.
The report implied Putin’s threat was a response to the possibility the EU might impose further and more severe sanctions on Russia over the Kremlin’s involvement with pro-Russian separatists in eastern Ukraine.
The rift events in Ukraine have opened between the EU and Russia continue to grow.
The new EU foreign policy chief, Federica Mogherini, has called the situation in Ukraine Europe’s biggest crisis in decades.
NATO chief Anders Fogh Rasmussen announced on September 1 the alliance is considering the creation of a “spearhead” force that could be deployed in eastern Europe within 48 hours to counter any possible Russian aggression.
