Speaking at a question-and-answer session on Wednesday, Putin said that not only the UK, but the US also took part in the HMS Defender provocation off Crimea, Sputnik reported.
"This certainly is a provocation. […] What did they want to show and what goals did these provocateurs try to achieve? First and foremost, it was a complex provocation, and it was carried out not only by Britons but also by Americans”, Putin said, referring to HMS Defender and a US reconnaissance aircraft that took off from a NATO base in Greece earlier in the morning on the same day.
"Second is the political aspect [of this incident]: just days ago there was a summit in Geneva, so why carry out such a provocation?", Putin said, adding that even if the West does not recognise the results of the people's referendum that took place in Crimea before its reunification with Russia, there is no point to provocations.
According to him, a new world war wouldn't have started even if Russia sank HMS Defender because the vessel had violated Russian territorial waters.
Last Wednesday, the UK warship made inroads into Russia's territorial waters in the Black Sea, prompting Russian forces to fire warning shots until it left. London denied any shots were fired at all, even though Russia's security service, the FSB, released video footage of the encounter.
ZZ/SPUTNIK
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