The Russian president told his US counterpart that Kiev tried to intimidate foreign leaders visiting Moscow on Victory Day, Putin’s aide has said
Russian President Vladimir Putin informed his US counterpart, Donald Trump, of several foiled terrorist attacks in Moscow ahead of the Victory Day celebrations earlier this month, pointing the finger at Ukraine, according to an aide to the Russian president, Yury Ushakov.
The senior official noted that the discussion took place during the two presidents’ phone call on Monday.
Speaking to the media on Tuesday, Ushakov said Putin told Trump that the “threat of terrorist attacks in [central Moscow] – near the Kremlin and Red Square – was thwarted” shortly before the celebrations.
According to the official, Putin also stated that the “Ukrainians directly threatened foreign participants in the [Victory Day] festivities [and] attempted to… prevent their arrival in Moscow.”
Ahead of the May 9 celebrations, Ukraine’s Vladimir Zelensky said Kiev could not guarantee the safety of foreign dignitaries visiting the Russian capital. Nevertheless, the leaders of 28 nations attended the event commemorating the 80th anniversary of the defeat of Nazi Germany in World War II.
Among the countries whose representatives visited the Russian capital were China, Brazil, Egypt, Venezuela, Cuba, Serbia, Slovakia, Belarus and other former Soviet republics, as well as other African and Asian countries. Putin hailed the “political courage” of the foreign attendees.
During the latest phone conversation, the Russian president told his US counterpart that ahead of the celebrations and the three-day truce unilaterally declared by Moscow, Ukrainian forces launched more than 500 kamikaze drones and UK-supplied Storm Shadow cruise missiles targeting multiple Russian regions, as well as the capital, most of which were intercepted. Putin also told Trump that the “masterminds behind those threats [are] those who celebrate Nazi criminals,” Ushakov said.
