ST. PETERSBURG, June 17. /TASS/: The scale of the ‘sanitary zone’ or ‘sanitary cordon’ in Ukraine will depend on the range of the Ukrainian arms, from which the Russian territory should be protected, Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov told TASS when asked whether possible borders of such a zone have been outlined.
"No, this depends on what types of arms Ukraine has. The higher the combat characteristics of arms in Ukraine are the longer this distance should be," he said. "The main goal is clear: to make sure they do not reach the Russian citizens with those arms," Peskov added.
Asked whether there is a deadline for the creation of such a ‘sanitary zone’, the spokesman said that this process has in fact been on "for around a year and a half." "There cannot be either a new or an old [‘sanitary zone’], only one [such zone] can exist. [This is the continuation] of the work that is on," he stressed.
Russian President Vladimir Putin said at a meeting with war correspondents on June 13 that Moscow could consider the issue of creating a ‘sanitary zone’ on Ukraine’s soil should the shelling of Russian regions continue. He also mentioned the issue at a plenary session of the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum (SPIEF) on June 16, saying that in the event of Russia’s surrounding areas being attacked Moscow would consider the possibility of creating a ‘sanitary cordon’ on Ukrainian territory.
