Kremlin says to keep mum on Siemens' Russia retreat over Crimea scandal

The Kremlin said on Friday it did not want to make any comment on a decision by Germany's Siemens to halt deliveries of power equipment to Russian state-controlled customers after a Crimean sanctions scandal.

Siemens moved to distance itself from the imbroglio in a statement earlier on Friday, saying it now had credible evidence that four gas turbines it delivered a year ago for a project in southern Russia had been illegally moved to Crimea without its knowledge.

"Right from the off I will tell you that I will leave this matter without comment," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters on a conference call.

"This a matter for the companies who are cooperating (with Siemens) to comment on. These companies will continue contacts and dialogue on this matter. We will not comment on this in any way."

When asked if he could confirm a German media report which said that President Vladimir Putin had personally guaranteed to top German politicians that the Siemens turbines would not be delivered to Crimea, Peskov also declined to comment.

(This article has not been edited by DNA's editorial team and is auto-generated from an agency feed.)