INTERNATIONAL: Kremlin spokesman, Dmitriv Peskov has said that Moscow has noticed the recent statements by the senior officials from the U.S. and EU, Jake Sullivan and Josep Borrell that Putin was apparently unhappy that his troops had not advanced the way he expected in major cities including Kyiv. And because of that he, Putin, allegedly expanded his offensive targets and attempted to cause damage to every part of the country.

The Kremlin said on Monday,March 14, that Russian forces could take full control of major Ukrainian cities and it had sufficient military clout to fulfil all of its aims in Ukraine without any help from China.

The United States and its European allies have cast the Russian offensive in Ukraine as an imperial-style land grab that they say has so far been poorly executed because Moscow underestimated Ukrainian resistance and Western resolve to punish Russia.

"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 has made clear.

Peskov has also said claims by the United States and European Union that Putin was somehow disappointed with the progress of what the Kremlin casts as a special military operation amounted to a provocation aimed at prompting Russia to storm cities.

Peskov has added, they had received a very tragic news from Donetsk where more than 20 civilians died from a missile launched by the Ukrainian armed forces who, it seems, are acting on advice and follow the methods of their overseas masters. Russian armed forces use modern, high-precision weaponry targeting exclusively military and information infrastructure. All plans of the Russian leadership will be achieved at planned time and in their entirety.

Peskov has mentioned Putin had at the start of the operation explicitly asked the defence ministry to avoid storming major cities such as Kyiv because he thought Ukrainians units would use civilians as shields.

He has also said some Ukrainian cities were already surrounded by Russian forces.

When asked about remarks by U.S. officials who had said that Russia had asked China for military equipment, Peskov said: "No." Peskov has said that the information on Russia requesting China’s military assistance comes from Washington. Different newspapers wrote about it.The newspapers write a lot of different things nowadays, and there is no need to treat what they say as the original.

Peskov has mentioned that Russia possesses its own independent potential to continue the operation. It is going according to plan and will be completed on time and in full.