Russia could take full control of major Ukrainian cities – Kremlin

LONDON (Reuters) -The Kremlin said on Monday that Russia could take full control of major Ukrainian cities and cautioned the West that it had sufficient military clout to fulfil all of its aims in Ukraine without any need for help from China.

“The defence ministry of the Russian Federation, while ensuring the maximum safety of the civilian population, does not exclude the possibility of taking major population centres under full control,” Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said.

Peskov said that some of Ukraine’s major cities were already surrounded by Russian forces.

When asked by Reuters about remarks by U.S. officials who had said that Russia had asked China for military equipment, Peskov said: “No.”

“Russia possesses its own independent potential to continue the operation. As we said, it is going according to plan and will be completed on time and in full.”

(Reporting by Guy Faulconbridge; Editing by Mark Trevelyan)