Russia has all the necessary means at its disposal to destroy anyone who tries to attack the Russian enclave of Kaliningrad, Russian President Vladimir Putin warned today.
Putin was responding to a question about statements made earlier this month by Lithuanian Foreign Minister Kestutis Budrys, who said NATO must show Moscow that it is capable of penetrating Kaliningrad.
In another question, regarding reports by Russian intelligence services that Ukraine has sent drone operators to Latvia, the Russian president reiterated that any region that poses a threat to Russia is considered a legitimate target.
At the same time, Putin assured that Russia is ready to continue talks on a peaceful resolution to the war in Ukraine. He clarified that his previous statements, on May 9, that the war was nearing its end, were based on an analysis of Russian gains on the battlefield.
However, the Russian president refused to give a specific timetable for ending the war.
He added that Western claims that Moscow was preparing for war with Europe were “lies” because Russia “has never threatened and does not threaten European countries.”
He also said that Western media should be “ashamed” of how it covered the Ukrainian drone attack on a student dormitory in the Luhansk region, which Russia says killed 21 people.
NATO says drone downed in Romania was Russian
From Astana, Kazakhstan, where he is on a visit, Putin said earlier that “no one can say” where the drone that crashed into an apartment building in Galati, Romania, on Tuesday came from “until it is examined by experts,” hinting that it could be Ukrainian.
He also noted that other Ukrainian drones have been shot down in other countries recently.
However, Martin O’Donnell, a spokesman for NATO’s Supreme Allied Command Europe (SHAPE), confirmed that the drone that crashed into the building during an attack in neighboring Ukraine was of Russian origin.
The U.S. ambassador to NATO, Matthew Whitaker, condemned the “dangerous incursion” in a post on Platform X and vowed that the U.S. “will defend every inch of NATO territory.”
The White House has not yet responded to a request for comment.
“Russia’s dangerous behavior poses a risk to us all,” NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte said after speaking by phone with Romanian President Nicos Danes, who announced that the Russian consulate in the city of Constanta would be closed and the consul would be expelled from the country.