MOSCOW (Reuters) -The Kremlin on Thursday dismissed statements by Warsaw and other European countries about the shooting down of Russian drones over NATO member state Poland as nothing new and said that Moscow would be making no further comment on the situation.
Poland, Ukraine and Lithuania in a joint statement on Thursday condemned Russia over Wednesday’s drone incursion into Polish airspace, calling it a deliberate and unprecedented provocation.
Asked about the joint statement, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Moscow would not be issuing new comments on the situation because the Russian defence ministry had already issued its own statement.
“There will be no new comment. Our Defence Ministry commented on this, and it offered consultations, if necessary,” Peskov told reporters. “There is nothing to add.”
“As for the rhetoric and statements that we hear from Warsaw, well, actually, there is nothing new there. This rhetoric has been characteristic of almost all European capitals lately. We see its continuation.”
Peskov also said that a major Russian-Belarusian military exercise due to take place near the Polish border from Friday was not aimed against any other country.
“These are planned exercises, they are not aimed at anyone,” Peskov said. “We are talking about continuing military cooperation and working out interaction between the two strategic allies,” he said.
(Reporting by Reuters; Writing by Guy FaulconbridgeEditing by Andrew Osborn)
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