Kremlin: We Sent an ‘Explicit, Easy To Understand’ Message to Washington

Nov. 24—Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov stated Nov. 22 that last night’s national broadcast message by President Vladimir Putin was designed to warn the West against further escalation. Peskov had been asked, in particular, about Putin’s comment that “the regional conflict in Ukraine provoked by the West has assumed elements of a global nature,” and warned of a backlash if tensions escalate further. Peskov responded: “Yesterday’s statement was explicit, easy to understand, and reasonable. We have no doubt that the current administration in Washington had an opportunity to take it into account.”

Peskov explained that the President’s message was intended to make clear that “the reckless decisions and actions of Western countries, which produce missiles and supply them to Ukraine and subsequently take part in strikes on Russian territory, cannot remain without a response... [Russia]had clearly demonstrated its capabilities,” and outlined a possible retaliatory scenario if “our concerns are not taken into account.”

The Kremlin spokesman stressed that Russia would have preferred an outcome in which the U.S. had heeded Moscow’s warnings against authorizing long-range strikes months earlier, before the current escalation. “However, we see that the outgoing [U.S.] administration has opted for escalation,” he said. Moscow was still open to “any contacts” to end the crisis or at least avoid further escalation.