MOSCOW (Reuters) – The Kremlin said on Monday a purported recording of German military discussions showed Germany’s armed forces were discussing plans to launch strikes on Russian territory, and questioned whether Chancellor Olaf Scholz was in control of the situation.
Russian media last week published an audio recording of what they said was a meeting of senior German military officials discussing weapons for Ukraine and a potential strike by Kyiv on a bridge in Crimea, prompting Russian officials to demand an explanation.
“The recording itself says that within the Bundeswehr, plans to launch strikes on Russian territory are being discussed substantively and concretely. This does not require any legal interpretation. Everything here is more than obvious,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said.
Germany says it is investigating the recording. Russia has summoned Germany’s ambassador to demand an explanation.
“Here we have to find out whether the Bundeswehr is doing this on its own initiative. Then the question is: how controllable is the Bundeswehr and how much does Scholz control the situation? Or is it part of German government policy?” Peskov said.
“Both (scenarios) are very bad. Both once again emphasise the direct involvement of the countries of the collective West in the conflict around Ukraine.”
Germany is among the NATO countries that have supplied weaponry to Ukraine including tanks. Russia accuses what it calls the “collective West” of using Ukraine to wage a proxy war against it; NATO says it is helping Kyiv to defend itself against a war of aggression.
(Reporting by Reuters, writing by Mark Trevelyan, editing by Timothy Heritage)
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