MOSCOW (Dispatches) - Russian President Vladimir Putin said Friday that Europe is pushing its countries toward war with Russia, warning that deploying European troops to Ukraine would amount to war with Moscow, state-run news agency Tass reported.
“They are currently talking about how to send troops into Ukraine. That means war with Russia,” he told journalists.
Putin accused Western countries of attempting to “finish off” Russia by “using” Ukraine.
“Regarding security, the issue is clear: it is an attempt to ‘finish off’ the Russian Federation. First using terrorists and separatists in the Caucasus, then through other tools, and now via the neo-Nazi regime in Ukraine. Yet, it does not stop,” he said.
Putin also said Moscow does not threaten or seek to threaten European countries.
He said “European elites” are frightening their populations with what he called an “imaginary threat from Russia,” adding that Moscow has no grounds for conflict with Europe.
“We are not threatening, nor do we intend to threaten, European countries. Why would we? No one even considers the fact that we have no grounds for any conflict with Europe,” he said.
Putin also warned that Europe’s energy policy mistakes would lead to higher gas prices for consumers, while saying Russia sells its energy resources at market-based prices.
Russian forces carried out one massive attack and six group strikes on Ukrainian defense industry enterprises and logistics centers used by the Ukrainian military over the past week, the Russian Defense Ministry said Friday.
Russian forces also seized settlements in the Donetsk, Zaporozhye and Kharkov regions, according to the ministry.
Russian troops struck vessels supporting the Ukrainian military and destroyed a large number of Ukrainian drones and other weapons, while its Black Sea Fleet destroyed 12 Ukrainian unmanned boats, it said.
On Friday morning, Russian forces attacked petrol stations in the Ukrainian capital with drones, killing two people and injuring eight others, said Kyiv Mayor Vitaliy Klitschko.
The strikes came after a drone hit a nine-story residential building in the Dniprovskyi district overnight, injuring eight people, Klitschko said in a post on Telegram.
According to preliminary reports, petrol stations in the Dniprovskyi and Obolonskyi districts were also hit, the Kyiv City Military Administration said on Telegram.