Putin says it’s too early to say if the drone which strayed into Romania was Russian
MOSCOW, May 29 (Reuters) – Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Friday that it was too early to tell whether the drone that crashed into an apartment block in Romania was Russian and suggested it could be a Ukrainian plane.
NATO accused Moscow of reckless behavior on Friday and vowed to “defend every square inch of Allied territory” after Romania said a Russian drone crashed into an apartment block in the alliance member country during an attack on neighboring Ukraine.
“Who in Romania says this is a Russian UAV?” Putin asked this question to journalists at a press conference in Astana, Kazakhstan. He said he had just heard about the incident because he had been in talks all day. “Until an investigation is done, no one can say what the origin of this or that drone is,” he said.
Putin said that Ukrainian unmanned aerial vehicles had previously been seen in Finland, Poland and the Baltic countries.
“The first reaction was the same as in Romania now: the Russians are coming,” Putin said. “Then it soon became clear that this had nothing to do with Russian drones.”
Putin also objected to European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen’s statement that she had not examined the drone wreckage, accusing Russia of crossing another line in the incident.
Putin suggested that Romania share information about what was happening and potential drone parts so Moscow could conduct its own investigation.
(Reporting by Vladimir Soldatkin and Anton Kolodyazhnyy Writing by Guy Faulconbridge/Maxim Rodionov; editing by Andrew Osborn)
