MOSCOW. Jan 11 (Interfax) - The authorities in Ukraine have long overstepped the red lines important for the interests of Russia, but its president Vladimir Putin reacts to policies from Kyiv thoughtfully and would not shoot himself in the foot for the sake of revenge, his spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said.
In an interview with Vladimir Solovyov published on his YouTube channel, he was asked to clarify his own remarks about Russia having "red lines" which it would not let be crossed.
"These are the lines that go in violation of our interests," the Kremlin spokesman said, citing Belarus as an example.
"Ukraine went beyond the red lines," Peskov added, describing what happened there as "tragedy for the whole of Europe."
Commenting on his interviewer's remarks that Russia was allowing those red lines to be crossed and Putin not reacting in due manner, Peskov said: "Shooting himself in the foot so as to take revenge on someone is not his thing."
"His is a thoughtful, thought-through, well-argued reaction," Peskov said.