Putin accuses European allies of involvement in attack on southern Russia

BarcelonaEmboldened by Donald Trump's appeasement attitude, Russian President Vladimir Putin on Wednesday issued a veiled threat to Ukraine's European allies from St. Petersburg. Speaking to the media, Putin suggested that a Ukrainian drone attack on a Caspian Pipeline Consortium (CPC) pumping station in southern Russia on Monday might have been coordinated with Europe. He added that he was "hopeful" that this was not the case. But Putin said he was convinced that Ukraine "could not" have organised such an attack on its own and that it "probably" received Western intelligence.

A drone attack hit the aforementioned pumping station on the oil pipeline, reducing flows from Kazakhstan to global markets, pumped by Western companies such as Chevron and Exxon Mobil.

Speaking to the media, the Russian president also commented on the attack on the Caspian Pipeline Consortium (CPC) pumping station in southern Russia. the call he had with Donald Trump Last week, he commented on the state of relations between the two countries. He said: "We want to hold this meeting [with Donald Trump]. I would like to hold it. But it must be prepared very well in order for it to yield results."

Regarding Ukraine's possible participation in the peace talks, President Putin said: "During the telephone conversation, Trump told me that he can confirm, of course, that the United States assumes that the negotiation process will be conducted with the participation of Russia and Ukraine."

On the talks Monday in Saudi Arabia, Putin also said that the goal of the US and Russia was to "restoration" of bilateral relations. He added that without "an increase in the level of trust" between the two countries it is "impossible to resolve many problems, including the crisis in Ukraine." The Kremlin leader stressed that Moscow "has never refused to have contacts with the Europeans; it has never refused to negotiate with Ukraine."

In Russia's interest

But there are still suspicions in Moscow regarding Trump, and not all voices welcome the latest moves by the US president with Putin's cautious willingness to meet them. Russian state television does not see the tycoon as a friend of the Kremlin, although it admits that his policies do benefit Russia. "The policy pursued by Donald Trump's administration is not about a multipolar world, it is about asserting the supremacy and hegemony of the United States using different means," said the host of a daytime talk show on Channel 1 this morning. "Of course, this policy creates a wedge in the Western community," something that reverses.

In this context of extreme volatility, and with a Trump who does not generate any confidence in either Kiev or Brussels, the special envoy for Ukraine of the US president, Keith Kellogg, has assured that he understood the need for security guarantees for the country and that they would discuss it with that same block. "We are very clear that it is important for the sovereignty of this nation," he told reporters upon arriving at the Kiev station. Despite his position, Kellogg did not participate in Monday's meeting in Saudi Arabia between Russia and the United States.