Kremlin Strikes Back at Ukrainian Attack on Belgorod Fuel Depot

"Clearly, it’s not what could create conditions for further talks," Dmitry Peskov said, when asked if the incident could be viewed as an escalation of the conflict

Russian Presidential Spokesman Dmitry Peskov Mikhail Japaridze/TASS

© Mikhail Japaridze/TASS

MOSCOW, April 1. /TASS/. The Ukrainian military’s airstrike on a fuel depot in the Russian city of Belgorod is not creating "conditions for further talks" between Moscow and Kiev, Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters on Friday.

"Clearly, it’s not what could create conditions for further talks," he said, when asked if the incident could be viewed as an escalation of the conflict.

Peskov also pointed out that "it’s not for us at the presidential administration to provide assessments, it is professionals and law enforcement agencies that should do that." The Kremlin official noted that Russia’s air superiority in the special military operation in Ukraine "is an absolute fact."

The Kremlin press secretary was also asked to comment on Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi’s remark that Russian President Vladimir Putin had told him in a phone call that conditions had not been created yet for a ceasefire in Ukraine. "Everything we felt was appropriate to say at the end of the conversation, we outlined in our message. The special operation continues,’ the spokesman stressed.

On Friday, a fire broke out at a petroleum depot belonging to the Belgorodnefteprodukt company after the Ukrainian Armed Forces had carried out two airstrikes. The attack caused no casualties. The subsequent blazes that engulfed the fuel tanks prompted the local authorities to announce an evacuation of residents living on three streets adjacent to the facility.