Penalties imposed by Western countries against Russia over son invasion of Ukraine is like A declaration of war, Russian President Vladimir Putin said Saturday while reiterating stern warnings against proposals for NATO declares a no-fly zone.
“These sanctions that are being imposed are akin to a declaration of war, but thank God, on didn’t come to that,” Putin said at a meeting. with employees of the national airline Aeroflot.
Earlier, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov accused the West of “economic banditry” and threatened with reprisals, without giving details.
The war, which began with Russia invasion on On February 24, sent nearly 1.5 million refugees fleeing west into the European Union, prompting calls from Kyiv and other capitals for NATO will impose a no-fly zone to stop the Russians invasion and airstrikes on civilian areas.
Putin warned Western powers against impose a no-fly zone over Ukraine, an operation requested by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy but rejected by NATO.
“Any movement in this direction will be considered by us as participation of the respective country in an armed conflict,” Putin said.
NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg, US President Joe Biden and countries have repeatedly ruled out creating a no-fly zone to protect Ukraine from Russian aerial bombardment.
They fear such step would greatly increase the risk of direct confrontation with Russia and lead to a larger war in Europe.
Putin also dismissed rumors that Russia was considering declaring martial law with that of son country military incursion in Ukraine in son second week.
“Martial law should only be introduced in case where there is external aggression… we are not experiencing this at the moment and I hope that we won’t,” Putin said.
Some Russians fear that, should the authoritarian leader would impose martial law, it would be lead to a new crackdown on political dissent and media. There are reports of Russians already having left the country out of fear that Putin could take such a step.
Putin also repeated his terms for the end of the Russian war on Ukraine, including the demilitarization of the country and for it to become a neutral buffer between Europe and Russia.
According to Putin, the “destruction of military Infrastructure” in Ukraine “in the framework of the operation … is practically complete”, specifically mentioning arms and ammunition depots.
Russian forces are pressing on with their aggression on Ukraine, where planned civilian evacuations of two besieged towns have been called off. Russia and Ukraine blamed each other over the failure provide safe passage for civilians fleeing the two bombed towns, on the 10th day of a war that fueled Europe’s biggest humanitarian catastrophe in decades and has caused unprecedented international punishments on Moscow amid warnings of a global recession.
The Russian Defense Ministry said its units had opened humanitarian corridors near cities of Mariupol and Volnovakha, which were surrounded by his troops. Corn in Mariupol, the city Council declared that Russia was not observing the ceasefirefire and he asked residents to return to the shelters and wait for other information on evacuation.
The committee international of the Red Cross has said it understands that the evacuations of the civilians of Mariupol and Volnovakha would no longer be start on Saturday.
The Russian Defense Ministry accused the Ukrainian “nationalists” of prevent civilians from leaving, RIA news reports the agency.
The southeastern port suffered heavy bombardment, a sign of its strategic value to Moscow due to its position between eastern Ukraine, held by Russian-backed separatists, and the Black Sea Crimean peninsula, which Moscow annexed into Ukraine in 2014.
“Last night the shelling was harder and closer together,” said a member of the personnel of Doctors Without Borders (MSF), according to the aid agency. There was still no water, heating or mobile telephone connections and food were scarce.
Ukrainian government said the plan was to evacuate about 200,000 people from Mariupol and 15,000 from Volnovakha.
Penalties imposed by Western countries against Russia over son invasion of Ukraine is like A declaration of war, Russian President Vladimir Putin said Saturday while reiterating stern warnings against proposals for NATO declares a no-fly zone.
“These sanctions that are being imposed are akin to a declaration of war, but thank God, on didn’t come to that,” Putin said at a meeting. with employees of the national airline Aeroflot.
Earlier, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov accused the West of “economic banditry” and threatened with reprisals, without giving details.
The war, which began with Russia invasion on On February 24, sent nearly 1.5 million refugees fleeing west into the European Union, prompting calls from Kyiv and other capitals for NATO will impose a no-fly zone to stop the Russians invasion and airstrikes on civilian areas.
Putin warned Western powers against impose a no-fly zone over Ukraine, an operation requested by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy but rejected by NATO.
“Any movement in this direction will be considered by us as participation of the respective country in an armed conflict,” Putin said.
NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg, US President Joe Biden and countries have repeatedly ruled out creating a no-fly zone to protect Ukraine from Russian aerial bombardment.
They fear such step would greatly increase the risk of direct confrontation with Russia and lead to a larger war in Europe.
Putin also dismissed rumors that Russia was considering declaring martial law with that of son country military incursion in Ukraine in son second week.
“Martial law should only be introduced in case where there is external aggression… we are not experiencing this at the moment and I hope that we won’t,” Putin said.
Some Russians fear that, should the authoritarian leader would impose martial law, it would be lead to a new crackdown on political dissent and media. There are reports of Russians already having left the country out of fear that Putin could take such a step.
Putin also repeated his terms for the end of the Russian war on Ukraine, including the demilitarization of the country and for it to become a neutral buffer between Europe and Russia.
According to Putin, the “destruction of military Infrastructure” in Ukraine “in the framework of the operation … is practically complete”, specifically mentioning arms and ammunition depots.
Russian forces are pressing on with their aggression on Ukraine, where planned civilian evacuations of two besieged towns have been called off. Russia and Ukraine blamed each other over the failure provide safe passage for civilians fleeing the two bombed towns, on the 10th day of a war that fueled Europe’s biggest humanitarian catastrophe in decades and has caused unprecedented international punishments on Moscow amid warnings of a global recession.
The Russian Defense Ministry said its units had opened humanitarian corridors near cities of Mariupol and Volnovakha, which were surrounded by his troops. Corn in Mariupol, the city Council declared that Russia was not observing the ceasefirefire and he asked residents to return to the shelters and wait for other information on evacuation.
The committee international of the Red Cross has said it understands that the evacuations of the civilians of Mariupol and Volnovakha would no longer be start on Saturday.
The Russian Defense Ministry accused the Ukrainian “nationalists” of prevent civilians from leaving, RIA news reports the agency.
The southeastern port suffered heavy bombardment, a sign of its strategic value to Moscow due to its position between eastern Ukraine, held by Russian-backed separatists, and the Black Sea Crimean peninsula, which Moscow annexed into Ukraine in 2014.
“Last night the shelling was harder and closer together,” said a member of the personnel of Doctors Without Borders (MSF), according to the aid agency. There was still no water, heating or mobile telephone connections and food were scarce.
Ukrainian government said the plan was to evacuate about 200,000 people from Mariupol and 15,000 from Volnovakha.