The Russian President said he was fearful for the future of Spain after Sunday’s independence referendum which has not been accepted by Madrid and the European Union.
Speaking to 20 ambassadors from the EU, the US Heads of Mission and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov during a speech to the Spanish ambassador in Moscow today, he said: “Everyone is talking about the situation surrounding the independence referendum in Catalonia.
“I am not going to hide that we are very worried about Spain, but this is an internal matter for the King of Spain.
“We hope the crisis will be resolved.”
In an unprecedented television address to the nation, the king said the “irresponsible behaviour” of the Catalan leaders had undermined social harmony in the region.
He said: ”Today Catalan society is fractured and in conflict.
“They (the Catalan leaders) have infringed the system of legally approved rules with their decisions, showing an unacceptable disloyalty towards the powers of the state.”
“For a long time some entities in Catalonia have not followed the constitution or the law of this country which sets out the way this country is governed.
“This has shown a lack of loyalty to the Government of this country.”
Carles Puigdemont, the region’s secessionist leader, said Catalonia will declare independence “in a matter of days”.
He said his government would defy Madrid and “act at the end of this week or the beginning of next”.
In his speech Putin also revealed Russia was dissatisfied with the state of relations with the US and he wanted a “constructive” relationship with the country.
The Russian leader told the new US mission chiefs their work in Moscow coincides with a “rather difficult period, when the situation in the world is increasingly agitated with increasing tension”.