Kremlin: Ukraine’s NATO ambitions remain threat to Russia

This content was produced in Russia, where the law restricts coverage of Russian military operations in Ukraine.

MOSCOW, Sept 14 (Reuters) – The Kremlin said on Wednesday that Ukraine’s ongoing ambitions to join the Western NATO military alliance presented a threat to Russia’s security and highlighted the necessity for Russia to conduct what it calls a “special military operation” in Ukraine.

The Kremlin on Wednesday played down the impact of lost gas sales to Europe on Russia’s economy and said there were plenty of other countries that wanted to buy Russia’s energy resources.

“Europe is not the only consumer of natural gas and not the only continent that needs natural gas,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters in a conference call.

“There are regions developing at a much faster pace … they can compensate for the (reduced) demand for (Russian) gas in Europe,” he said.

(FILE) Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov . EPA-EFE/YURI KOCHETKOV