PANAJI /India/, May 5. /TASS/. Almost all of Russia's partners at the meeting of the SCO Foreign Ministers Council in Goa, India, have condemned the Ukrainian drone attack on the Kremlin, while Pakistani Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari expressed hope that the culprits would be identified soon, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said on Friday following the meeting.
"Almost all of my discussion partners, with whom we spoke yesterday, have condemned [the Ukrainian attack on the Kremlin]. In particular, the foreign minister of Pakistan directly condemned the terrorist act and expressed hope that the truth and those responsible for the attack would be established as soon as possible," the top Russian diplomat said.
Discussing how the attack will affect the development of the situation around Ukraine, Lavrov expressed confidence that, "there is no point in waiting for any new incidents, new provocations" to happen. "[Ukrainian President Vladimir] Zelensky and his team are doing everything they can, both in the media space and in their practical actions, so that all self-respecting countries would want to keep a healthy distance from them. This is indeed the case, and we understand that the realization of this is maturing," the top Russian diplomat concluded.
Drone attack on Kremlin
Early Wednesday morning, Kiev attempted to carry out a strike on the official residence of Russian President Vladimir Putin inside the Kremlin grounds, the Russian presidential press service said. Two unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) were launched and targeted at the Kremlin. Russian military and security officers promptly took them out, disabling them using electronic warfare systems. Putin was not harmed and is carrying on with his work as usual.
The Kremlin regards the incident as a premeditated terrorist attack and an assassination attempt on the Russian president. Russia retains the right to take retaliatory measures when and how it sees fit.
Russian Presidential Spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Thursday that statements by Ukrainian and US authorities that they were not involved in the drone attack on the Kremlin were laughable. He stressed that Russia knows that Kiev chooses both the means and the targets for strikes at the dictation of Washington.