Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov on Monday declined to comment on the downing of a Chinese balloon by the US military, saying it was a matter of US-Chinese relations
MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 06th February, 2023) Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov on Monday declined to comment on the downing of a Chinese balloon by the US military, saying it was a matter of US-Chinese relations.
"Honestly, we wouldn't want to do it (comment on the situation). The aerostat was apparently Chinese and it was flying in US airspace. It is a matter of bilateral ties between the United States and China," Peskov told reporters in Moscow.
Last Thursday, the Pentagon said it had detected a Chinese balloon over the US state of Montana. Washington insists that the balloon was sent over to spy on military sites, while China argues it was a meteorological airship that was blown off course. The balloon drifted over the US for several days before US President Joe Biden ordered a fighter jet to bring it down off the coast of South Carolina on Saturday.
Chinese Vice Foreign Minister Xie Feng criticized the downing on Monday as harmful for US-Chinese relations. The flyover caused US Secretary of State Antony Blinken last week to call off his first visit to Beijing since he took office in 2021.