On May 3, the Russian President’s press service announced that two drones had attempted to strike the Kremlin. Russian authorities accused Ukraine of being responsible for the incident, stressed that the decision was made by Washington and declared the right to react. How the world reacted to the drone attack – in Russian media material.
US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken
The United States cannot confirm reports of a drone attack on the Kremlin because it does not know the facts declared Blinken in an interview with The Washington Post. He added that such statements from Russia should be treated with “a great deal of suspicion”.
“When it comes to Ukraine, which is under daily attack <…> we let her decide how she’s going to defend herself and try to return the territories,” the State Department chief said.
Asked by a reporter if the United States would criticize Kiev if it decided to strike Russian territories, Blinken reiterated that Ukraine should make its own decisions on how to defend itself and restore its territorial integrity.
White House spokeswoman Karine Jean-Pierre
The US presidential administration was cautious about the drone explosion over the Kremlin, repeating after the secretary of state that it could not confirm the authenticity of reports of the attack. However, Jean-Pierre underline that the United States, from the start of the military operation, did not encourage Ukraine to fight outside its borders. She also noted that Russia used to conduct false flag operations, but added that the White House refrains from speculating on what happened.
Mao Ning, spokesman for the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs
The parties to the conflict in Ukraine should avoid any action that could further aggravate the situation, declared Mao Ning during a briefing. Asked if the incident would affect Beijing’s plans to send a special envoy for Eurasian affairs to Ukraine, the diplomat said the information would be “released in due course”.
“China will continue to work with the international community to play a constructive role for a political resolution of the Ukrainian crisis,” the Foreign Ministry spokesperson added.
Catherine Colonna, French Minister for Foreign Affairs
Drone attack on Kremlin looks ‘strange’, ‘quite hard to understand in normal situations’ said head of the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs on France Inter radio. According to Colonna, she would call the incident in Moscow “mysterious”.
The minister also said she would refrain from discussing versions of what happened, “of which there are many”. In addition, Colonna called “scandalous” the statement by Deputy Chairman of the Security Council of Russia Dmitry Medvedev, who after the drone attack called for the physical destruction of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensyy. According to the head of the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs, such a “verbal escalation is regrettable”.
Peter Szijjártó, Hungarian Foreign Minister
The head of the Hungarian Foreign Ministry has called for a rapid cessation of hostilities in Ukraine, saying the longer they last, the more incidents like Moscow will occur.
“Once this war is stopped, there will be a chance that such things will not happen and people’s lives can be saved,” Szijjártó said on CNN (quote according to TASS).
Deputy Spokesperson for UN Secretary General Farhan Haq
“We strongly reiterate our call on all stakeholders to refrain from any rhetoric or action that could lead to a further escalation of the conflict,” declared Hack at the press conference. At the same time, he noted that the UN could confirm neither Russia’s nor Ukraine’s reports of the incident.
Read the Latest Ukraine War News on The Eastern Herald.
