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Mystery surrounds a late night dash to the Kremlin by Vladimir Putin amid suspicions he has prepared a new televised statement on the war in Ukraine and tensions with the West.
Video shows his Aurus limousine in a late night dash to his Moscow seat of power at 23:00 on Saturday night.
His Kremlin visit immediately followed talks with Belarus leader Alexander Lukashenko in St Petersburg, 440 miles away, in which he agreed to supply advanced nuclear-capable arms to the Minsk dictator.
A night of bombardment on Ukrainian cities including Kyiv from Russian warplanes using Belarus airspace followed the meeting.
Putin's spokesman did not deny the late night dash to the Kremlin, but ruled out the purpose being a crisis meeting of top officials.
He also denied that Putin was to make an immediate emergency statement.
Peskov in a late night statement told TASS: 'No. Everything is not like that. Everything is normal.'
Yet Peskov did not explain the purpose of Putin's sudden visit.
Vladimir Putin's entourage made a late night dash to the Kremlin last night which has sparked speculation as to the reason why
Video shows Putin's Aurus limousine in a late night dash to his Moscow seat of power at 23:00 on Saturday night
Putin's spokesman did not deny the late night dash to the Kremlin, but ruled out the purpose being a crisis meeting of top officials
The Kremlin, the seat of power in Russia, located in Red Square in central Moscow on the Moskva River
The Russian president has previously pre-recorded major announcements in the Kremlin which are then later released.
One suspicion is that this might have been the purpose of his visit, possibly to announce an escalation of hostilities.
Ukrainian official Anton Gerashchenko expressed concern that the visit signalled a new Putin statement on the war
His nighttime address which launched his 'special military operation' in Ukraine on February 24 is widely believed to have been pre-recorded earlier.
Putin does not live in the Kremlin but at an out of town official residence, and in summer is frequently based in Sochi on the Black Sea.
So the sight of his entourage arriving late on a Saturday night at the Kremlin was seen as exceptional and immediately triggered reports on social media, forcing Peskov into a reaction.
Ukrainian official Anton Gerashchenko expressed concern that the visit signalled a new Putin statement on the war.
'Late at night on Saturday Putin suddenly drove into the Kremlin,' he said.
'Details: Peskov denied suggestions that appeared in the media that it was linked to an emergency meeting, and said that 'everything was normal'.'
