Kremlin Insists There's No Plan To Declare Martial Law In Russia

Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said Wednesday that the internal political situation in the country is stable and dismissed allegations that Russian President Vladimir Putin is planning to declare martial law. Anna Chernova reported for CNN.

Photo Insert: The Kremlin

When asked whether Putin is planning to introduce martial law in Russia, Peskov said, “No, this is not in the plans.”

US Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines said Tuesday that the current trend in Ukraine increased chances that Putin would turn to more drastic means, including “imposing martial law, reorienting industrial production, or potentially escalatory military actions to free up the resources needed to achieve his objectives as the conflict drags on.”

Meanwhile, Lithuanian Foreign Minister Gabrielius Landsbergis did not suggest the West should take concrete action to remove Putin from power and acknowledged that "it might take quite some time for it to change, because we don't have any active means to change it. So it needs to change from within."

He explained it would not be enough just for Putin to no longer lead Russia because "it's a whole system."

"Putin might be sick, he might be pushed aside by his inner circle -- who's probably quite unhappy about the losses in the battlefield -- but that doesn't mean that the regime will change or its attitude, the warmongering attitude will change," he said, saying it was reminiscent of Nazi Germany.

Landsbergis told CNN that Putin's Victory Day speech on Monday suggested there may be discontent among that inner circle about Russia's failures in the war, saying it was "fascinating" that the Russian President "tried to explain" why he started the war in those remarks.

"Who he is explaining it to? His public? Well, they don't need explanation," the foreign minister said, noting the general Russian public's approval of the invasion. "Us? You know, we don't believe him. I mean, we know the facts, you know, we knew them all along."

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