Putin aide: That 'taking Kiev in 2 weeks' line was 'taken out of context'

Putin aide: That &#039;taking Kiev in 2 weeks&#039; line was &#039;taken out of context&#039;

(Image credit: Dennis Grombkowski/Getty Images)

last updated 8 January 2015

Over the weekend, Russian President Vladimir Putin raised some eyebrows for telling outgoing European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso that if he wanted to, "I can take Kiev in two weeks." That may well be true, but it was surprising that Putin would say it out loud to a senior Western official.

Well, on Tuesday, Putin foreign policy aide Yuri Ushakov said Putin didn't say that, exactly. "Irrespective of whether these words were pronounced or not, this quote was taken out of context and had a very different meaning," he is quoted as saying by Russia's Itar-Tass news service.

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Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.