‘Ludicrous’: US denies involvement in Moscow drone attack
US officials say they are unaware of details of the attack Russia says was aimed at President Vladimir Putin.
Washington, D.C. – The United States has dismissed as “ridiculous” Russia’s claim that it was responsible for a drone attack on the Kremlin, an incident that could spark international tension.
White House National Security spokesman John Kirby on Thursday denied any U.S. involvement in Wednesday’s attack, which Moscow said was aimed at President Vladimir Putin. Kirby stressed that Washington is not even aware of the details of what happened.
‘Of course it’s a ridiculous claim. The United States had nothing to do with this,” Kirby said CNN. “We don’t even know exactly what happened here, but I can assure you that the United States played no part in it.”
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said earlier on Thursday that the US, a key ally of Ukraine, was “undoubtedly” behind the attack.
“We know very well that decisions about such actions, about such terrorist attacks, are not made in Kiev, but in Washington,” Peskov said.
In a separate interview with MSNBC on Thursday, Kirby said Peskov was lying, “pure and simple”.
Russia had said on Wednesday it had shot down two drones aimed at the Kremlin before they reached Putin’s official residence.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has denied his country’s involvement in the attack, saying Ukrainians are fighting Russian troops on Ukrainian territory and would leave Putin’s fate to a war crimes tribunal.
US and Ukrainian officials have expressed skepticism about the attack, with Zelensky saying Putin is looking for ways to motivate Russians to keep fighting in Ukraine.
“I would take everything out of the Kremlin with a very large salt shaker,” US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Wednesday after reports of the attack.
Asked if the US, the main source of military aid to Ukraine, would support Ukrainian attacks in Russia, Blinken stressed that Washington does not dictate to Kyiv how its war effort should be conducted.
“We leave it to Ukraine to decide how it will defend itself and how it will try to get back the territory it seized,” he said.
But Kirby suggested Thursday that the US wants to limit fighting to the battlefield in Ukraine.
“We have been clear with them publicly, we have been clear in private, that we neither encourage nor enable them to strike outside Ukraine,” he said.
Moscow’s war effort in Ukraine has been hampered by military setbacks, while Western powers have stepped up financial and military support to Kiev.
On Thursday, Kirby said the US is “determined” to continue its aid to Ukraine, citing President Joe Biden who said Washington’s support will continue “as long as it takes”.