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Kremlin says comments on US weapons strike on Crimea 'extremely dangerous'
In a call with reporters, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that the comments made by Laura Cooper, the Pentagon’s deputy assistant secretary for Russian, Ukrainian and Eurasian affairs, were "extremely dangerous" and are "evidence of direct US involvement in the conflict".
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In this file photo taken on October 30, 2018 the Pentagon is seen from an airplane over Washington, DC. (AFP/Saul Loeb)
T
he Kremlin on Wednesday said that comments by a Pentagon official on Tuesday that Ukraine may use US-supplied equipment to strike targets in Crimea were extremely dangerous, and evidence of direct US involvement in the Ukraine conflict.
In a call with reporters, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that the comments made by Laura Cooper, the Pentagon’s deputy assistant secretary for Russian, Ukrainian and Eurasian affairs, were "extremely dangerous" and are "evidence of direct US involvement in the conflict".
Earlier on Wednesday, President Vladimir Putin on Wednesday signed legislation to annex four territories of Ukraine, government documents showed.
The Donetsk, Lugansk, Kherson and Zaporizhzhia regions are "accepted into the Russian Federation in accordance with the constitution of the Russian Federation", the documents said.
Putin also signed decrees formally appointing the current Moscow-backed heads of the four regions as their acting leaders.
Earlier, the annexation legislation was unanimously supported by both Russia's lower and upper chambers of parliament.
Putin last Friday presided over a grand ceremony at the Kremlin during which he signed agreements with the Moscow-installed leaders of the four regions to become subjects of the Russian Federation, despite condemnation from Kyiv and its allies in the West.
The four territories create a crucial land corridor between Russia and the Crimean Peninsula, which was annexed by Moscow in 2014.
Together, the five regions make up around 20 percent of Ukraine.
But Russian forces do not have complete control over Kherson or Zaporizhzhia and the Kremlin has not yet confirmed what areas of those regions are being annexed.
