Russia refuses to withdraw troops and missiles from Kaliningrad

Europe, News January 17, 2022 , by IRIA No Comments

Russia will never discuss the issue of the withdrawal of its missiles from the Kaliningrad region, Russian presidential press secretary Dmitry Peskov said on January 16.

Peskov said in an interview with CNN that “Russia will never discuss with anyone withdrawal of any missiles and any weapons from Kaliningrad because Kaliningrad is the territory of Russia.”

“And with all due respect, we will not tolerate any demands for us to do this or that on our own territory. None of the countries will tolerate,” Peskov said.

The Russian official stated that in a situation when NATO is conducting various military exercises and moving its military infrastructure close to Russia’s borders, “we have to respond, we have to take measures of precaution, that’s why we have our military guys on our territory there.”

“There are Russian troops on the territory of the Russian Federation next to the Ukrainian borders. And we find it necessary to keep those troops there in front of the very tense situation and very unfriendly environment,” the Russian presidential press secretary added.

During the interview, Peskov stressed the level of tensions on the Ukraine border and said that Russia seeks to receive a concrete response to its initiative of security guarantees.

“We have too much tension on the border. We have too much tension in this part of Europe. And, of course, it drags more problems, automatically. That’s why it is extremely, extremely dangerous for our continent. This is the reason [why] we are insisting that we receive a direct response for our concerns, extremely specific response for our extremely specific proposals,” Peskov emphasized.

Peskov clarified that Russia has no intentions to escalate the situation or launch an attack, and blamed the West and Ukraine for spreading allegations about Russia’s potential invasion. However, he warned that any attempt to resolve the crisis by using military force in Ukraine would have serious consequences.

*^{Russian presidential press secretary Dmitry Peskov. (Image Credit: Valery Sharifulin/TASS)}*

The Kremlin spokesperson also dismissed the reports that Russia is behind the recent cyberattacks on Ukraine. “We consider it a continuation of another unproved accusation of Russia… We are nearly accustomed to the fact that Ukrainians are blaming everything on Russia, even their bad weather,” Peskov added.

Earlier on January 14, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov also criticized U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Wendy Sherman for demanding Russia to send its troops, stationed on the Russian-Ukrainian border, back to the barracks.

“We are categorically opposed to developments, where we are requested to send troops to the barracks on our own soil, yet simultaneously the Americans, Canadians, British actually ensconce themselves under the guise of a rotation in the Baltic States and in the countries of northern Europe, as they open military bases near the Black Sea,” Lavrov said.