MOSCOW, August 31. /TASS/. Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov dismissed on Friday former French leader Francois Hollande’s claims that Russian President Vladimir Putin made threats against his Ukrainian counterpart Pyotr Poroshenko at the Minsk format talks in 2015.
"No," Peskov said answering a question if Putin said the words "I will crush you" to Poroshenko. "I attended almost all talks and I did not hear this phrase," the Kremlin spokesman said, noting that he cannot confirm this statement.
Peskov refused to comment on the former French president’s memoirs. "As for Mr. Hollande’s claims, I did not read them and I don’t know the context, so I cannot judge what he meant and in what context."
"It’s difficult for me to speak here, although Putin has always had a rather tough and clear stance on supporting Russian citizens where they can be targeted by hostile actions, which are often bordering on genocide, and attacks by ultranationalists. This is the consistent policy of the Russian president, he supports Russians in any place and he has stated this many times," he said.
The Kremlin spokesman noted that it’s clear that the civil war is underway in Ukraine. "It continues despite the fragile ceasefire, and this is an evident fact which can hardly be denied."
In February 2015, the Belarusian capital of Minsk hosted the talks between leaders of Russia, Germany, France and Ukraine, and the Minsk peace agreements were signed on settling the crisis in Ukraine.