Moscow ready to expose 'Kiev in two weeks' spin with Barroso call transcript
Vladimir Putin’s remark about “taking Kiev in two weeks” was taken out of context and its meaning was distorted, Moscow said, adding that it’s ready to publish the president’s conversation with the European Commission head. ● Moscow may reveal the full recording of the controversial phone call if European Commission president, Jose Manual Barroso, doesn’t object in the next two days, Russia's permanent representative to the EU, Vladimir Chizhov, said. La Repubblica newspaper earlier reported that outgoing European Commission president, Jose Manual Barroso, disclosed the content of his telephone conversation with the Russian president before the EU summit, which took place in Berlin at the weekend. According to the Italian daily, Barroso quoted Putin as saying: “If I want to, I can take Kiev in two weeks” after the issue of the presence of Russian troops in Ukraine was raised. The EU official said that it was a “threat” by the head of the Russian state, which may be fulfilled in case of further European sanctions against Russia. Presidential aide, Yury Ushakov, stressed that whether these words concerning Russian troops taking Kiev were pronounced by Putin or not, “this quote was taken out of context and had a very different meaning.” Ushakov slammed Barroso for even sharing the details of a high-level phone call, saying that the EU Commission president’s behavior is “incorrect and goes beyond the bounds of diplomatic practices.” “If that was really done, it is not worthy of a serious political figure,” he added.
Itar-Tass: Russian presidential administration ready to make public Putin-Barroso conversation
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