- He was responding to an intervention by Borrell in which he supposedly called Moscow a "fascist regime", although the European authorities assure him that the High Commissioner did not say that and that it was a translation error.

- Zelensky announces "good news": the reconquest of some enclaves in Kharkiv.

The high representative has not called Russia that (fascist)

Putin calls Josep Borrell a Francoist: "If I lived in the 1930s, I would be on the side of the coup plotters as he does in Ukraine"

Russian President Vladimir Putin today disqualified the High Representative of the European Union (EU) for Foreign Affairs, Josep Borrell, for a speech delivered by the Spaniard on European support for Ukraine and sanctions on Russia, which, according to the translation into English, he called a "fascist regime".

"If he (Borrell) lived in the 1930s, as a Spaniard that he is, in Spain and heard in the weather forecast the well-known sacramental phrase 'in all of Spain the sky is clear, which was a signal for the start of the coup by General Franco would take up arms, but on which side would he fight?" Putin said at the 7th Eastern Economic Forum in Vladivostok.

"In my opinion, he would be on the side of the coup plotters, because today he supports the same coup plotters on the territory of Ukraine," Putin said of the socialist Borrell.

"The main source of current power (in Ukraine) is the 2014 coup," as Russia calls the Maidan Square protests that ended with the overthrow of then-Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych.

Putin's words come after Borrell spoke telematically last Monday at the Interparliamentary Conference for the Common Foreign and Security Policy in Prague.

At the end of his speech, Borrell said, always according to the translation of his words from Spanish into English, that "at the moment, we do not have a concrete plan on how to defeat fascist Russia and its fascist regime."

The EU assures that it did not say that

The Community Executive's spokesman for Foreign Affairs, Peter Stano, told the official TASS agency the same day that the EC has verified Borrell's words and that "the high representative has not said the words that are heard in the translation."

"The high representative has not called Russia that (fascist). What he did was mention the statement of one of the members of Parliament who used this expression," he said.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said Tuesday that Russia has demanded a transcript of his words in Spanish from Borrell's office, but has not yet received it.

"If what was reported in all the world's media is confirmed, then, of course, we will have important questions about how to continue to handle matters with these people," Lavrov said.

He also stated that Moscow would like to know what the policy of the new EU ambassador to Russia, Frenchman Roland Galharague, is in this context.

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