Blinken on Putin assassination attempt claim: Take anything from Kremlin with ‘very large shaker of salt’

Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in regard to the Kremlin’s claim that Ukraine attempted a drone strike to assassinate Russian President Vladimir Putin that anything from the Russian government should be taken with “a very large shaker of salt.”

Blinken told The Washington Post on Wednesday that he cannot validate the reports of an attempted Ukrainian attack on the Kremlin, but observers should be skeptical of statements from the Russian government.

“I can’t in any way validate them,” said Blinken, who was at an event with the Post to preview the 2023 World Press Freedom Index. “We simply don’t know. Second, I would take anything coming out of the Kremlin with a very large shaker of salt.”

Ukraine has denied the Kremlin’s claims that it sent drones to attack the president.