Kremlin on alleged Trump shooter’s Ukrainian links: Playing with fire has consequences
Sign up now: Get ST's newsletters delivered to your inbox
Mr Ryan Routh was arrested on Sept 15 for allegedly attempting to assassinate former president Donald Trump.
PHOTO: REUTERS
MOSCOW – The Kremlin said on Sept 16 that the Ukrainian links of the alleged shooter in the assassination attempt on former US president Donald Trump showed that “playing with fire” has consequences.
Asked about what the US Federal Bureau of Investigation called an apparent assassination attempt on Trump, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said: “It is not us who should be thinking. It is the US intelligence services who should be thinking. In any case, playing with fire has its consequences.”
The comment was a clear reference to the United States’ support of Ukraine against Russia.
CNN, Fox News and The New York Times identified the suspect as Mr Ryan Wesley Routh, 58, of Hawaii, citing unidentified law enforcement officials.
Three social media accounts bearing Mr Routh’s name suggest he is an avid supporter of Ukraine in its war against Russia.
The Times reported it interviewed Mr Routh in 2023 for an article about Americans who were volunteering to help the Ukraine war effort.
Mr Routh told The Times he travelled to Ukraine and spent several months there in 2022 and was trying to recruit Afghan soldiers who fled the Taliban to fight in Ukraine. REUTERS
