'Can Take Kiev in 2 Weeks If I Want To'

Russian president Vladimir Putin has allegedly threatened he "can take Kiev in two weeks", in remarks made to the outgoing president of the European commission.

Putin said to Jose Manuel Barroso, who then passed the Russian leader's remarks on to European leaders at the Nato summit over the weekend, "If I want to, I can take Kiev in two weeks," according to Italy's La Republica newspaper.

Barroso revealed Putin's threat after Ukrainian president Petro Poroshenko, who on Monday accused Russia of "direct and undisguised aggression", had left the summit table. As tension increases in the region, Nato has said they will form a 4,000 strong spearhead force to go into action in 48 hours in response to Russian aggression in Ukraine.

At a pre-summit news conference, Nato secretary general Anders Fogh Rasmussen said alliance officials have drafted a detailed plan that "responds to Russia's aggressive behaviour" but also equips Nato to respond to all security challenges, wherever they may arise.

Ramussen said the forces would be equipped to "travel light, but strike hard". Nonetheless, Frederica Mogherini, the EU's new heady of foreign policy, warned there was no military solution for what is now Europe's biggest crisis in decades.

Barroso claims Putin first made the remarks in a telephone conversation held on 29 August, when Barroso held the Russian president responsible for the military action of the separatists in Ukraine. Allegedly, Putin interrupted saying: "The issue is not this. If I want, I can take Kiev in two weeks".

A Russian official is complaining that Barroso breached confidentiality when he quoted Putin as saying Moscow could take over Kiev in two weeks if it wished.

Yuri Ushakov, a presidential aide, told reporters in Moscow on Tuesday that Putin's statement was "quoted out of context and carried a completely different meaning." Ushakov says it was unworthy of Barroso to speak publicly about a private conversation.

Several European publications earlier this week quoted Barroso saying that Putin had said in a private conversation that Russian forces could take over Ukraine's capital in two weeks' time if they wished. Pro-Russian rebels have been fighting Ukrainian government troops since mid-April in a conflict that has left more than 2,500 people dead.

The Independent