MOSCOW: Russia said on Friday that an accusation from Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky that a Russian drone had struck the Chernobyl nuclear power plant was a staged “provocation” by Kyiv to blackmail the West into giving it more aid.
Zelensky said on Friday that a Russian drone had caused significant damage to the radiation containment shelter at the plant, but that radiation levels remained normal after the incident, which came as top US, Ukrainian and European officials gathered at the Munich Security Conference to discuss the war in Ukraine.
Maria Zakharova, a spokeswoman for the Russian Foreign Ministry, accused Zelensky of orchestrating the alleged drone attack to coincide with the Munich event as part of a lobbying effort to secure more weapons and money from the West.
“There was never any doubt that Zelensky would not come to the Munich conference empty-handed... The hands of the Kyiv regime must always be busy with some children’s rattles to distract the attention of the conference participants. Zelensky travels with performances that are backed up by provocations,” Zakharova told a news briefing in Moscow.
“Is there any doubt in anyone’s mind that this is a provocation? There can be no doubt. A performance was needed to lobby for arms deliveries and convince the world public. A scary, bloody and very dangerous performance,” she said, accusing Kyiv of using nuclear plants for “blackmail.”
Russia calls Zelensky accusation over Chornobyl plant stage-managed ‘nuclear blackmail’
https://arab.news/cka3y
Russia calls Zelensky accusation over Chornobyl plant stage-managed ‘nuclear blackmail’
- Zelensky said on Friday that a Russian drone had caused significant damage to the radiation containment shelter at the plant
- Zakharova accused Zelensky of orchestrating the alleged drone attack to coincide with the Munich event
Trump says “it will be done” on getting “Russian threat” away from Greenland
US President Donald Trump said on Sunday that Denmark has not been able to do anything to get the “Russian threat” away from Greenland, and said, “Now it is time, and it will be done!!!“
“NATO has been telling Denmark, for 20 years, that “you have to get Russian threat away from Greenland.” Unfortunately, Denmark has been unable to do anything about it,” Trump wrote in a post on the social media website he owns called Truth Social.
The White House, the Danish Presidency in the European Union, and Denmark’s foreign affairs ministry did not immediately respond to a Reuters’ request for comment.
Trump has repeatedly insisted he will settle for nothing less than ownership of Greenland, an autonomous territory of Denmark.
Leaders of both Denmark and Greenland have insisted the island is not for sale and does not want to be part of the United States.
Trump on Saturday vowed to implement a wave of increasing tariffs on European allies until the United States is allowed to buy Greenland.
The encroaching presence of China and Russia makes Greenland vital to US security interests, Trump has said. Danish and other European officials have pointed out that Greenland is already covered by NATO’s collective security pact.
