Kremlin: Russia Could Take Full Control of Ukraine without Any Help

The Kremlin said on Monday that Russia had the full ability to take full control of major Ukrainian cities without any need for help from China.

"The defence ministry of the Russian Federation, while ensuring the maximum safety of the civilian population, does not exclude the possibility of taking major population centres under full control," Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said.

In addition, Peskov affirmed that some of Ukraine's major cities were already surrounded by Russian forces.

Regarding remarks by U.S. officials who had said that Russia had asked China for military equipment, Peskov said: "Russia possesses its own independent potential to continue the operation. As we said, it is going according to plan and will be completed on time and in full."

Moreover, the spokesperson told reporters, "Putin gave orders to hold back on any immediate assault on large cities because the civilian losses would be large."

He added that the defence ministry, however, "does not rule out the possibility of putting large cities, which are already almost fully encircled, under its full control."