Secretary of the National Security and Defense Council (NSDC) of Ukraine Oleksiy Danilov on Monday, January 31, in an interview with the Associated Press (AP), warned the West against putting pressure on his country to implement the Minsk agreements on eastern Ukraine, brokered by France and Germany, stating that an attempt to implement them could lead to a very difficult internal situation, and this would be beneficial for Moscow.
According to Danilov, about 120,000 Russian troops are concentrated near the borders of Ukraine, and Moscow can arrange provocations “at any moment.” At the same time, he emphasized that large-scale preparations would be required for the launch of a full-scale invasion, which could be easily noticed.
According to the Secretary of the National Security and Defense Council, the period of preparation of the Russian Federation for the invasion of Ukraine may take from three to seven days. “So far, we do not see this. We clearly understand what is happening, and we are calmly preparing for this,” Danilov said and expressed regret over the decision of the United States, Great Britain, Australia and Canada to recall some of their diplomats from Kiev, noting that such a step ” was bad for us.” “We don’t think there is a threat now,” he stressed.
Against the panic in the country
US President Joe Biden warned Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelensky during a phone call on Thursday that there was a “clear possibility” that Russia could take military action against Ukraine in February. However, Zelenskiy said on Friday that the Russian troop build-up may be just part of Moscow’s attempt to exert “psychological pressure” and sow panic.
“We cannot allow panic in the country. It is very difficult for us to maintain control over the economic situation when all the media say that tomorrow a war will begin. Panic is the sister of defeat,” Danilov said in an interview with AP.
According to Danilov, in the event of a Russian invasion, Ukraine is capable of significantly and in a short time to strengthen its 250,000-strong armed forces and draft up to 2.5 million people into the army. “They will face the response of our society, our citizens, our military,” Danilov told AP.
As the secretary of the National Security and Defense Council also noted, up to 420,000 Ukrainians gained combat experience fighting Russian-backed separatists in eastern Ukraine and up to 1 million in the country of 41 million people have hunting licenses.
For the development of a new document instead of the Minsk agreements
Danilov referred to a statement by the Ukrainian Interior Ministry on Monday that it had thwarted a plot to organize unrest in Kiev and several other cities in Ukraine. He noted that Russian President Vladimir Putin hopes to achieve his goal of destroying Ukraine through internal destabilization, even without an invasion, using “Russian agents of influence.”
“Unfortunately, we have many agents of influence from the Russian Federation here who are behind plans to destabilize our country from within,” he said, pointing to the pro-Russian Opposition Platform – For Life, which has a faction in the Verkhovna Rada.
“Implementation of the Minsk agreements means the destruction of the country,” Danilov said. According to him, when these documents “were signed under the barrel of a Russian cannon, and the Germans and the French were watching, it was already clear to all reasonable people that it was impossible to implement these documents.” He pointed out that if the Minsk agreements are implemented, this will allow Russia to demand the lifting of Western sanctions,
Danilov called for negotiations to develop a new document that would be really feasible and that would force Putin to “withdraw his troops and tanks.”
Criticism of Germany for refusing to supply Ukraine with weapons
Danilov condemned Russia’s demands for NATO to ban Ukraine from ever joining the North Atlantic Alliance, saying his country has opted for integration into NATO and the European Union, and this is reflected in its constitution.
“No one has the right to dictate to us whether we should or should not join alliances. This is the sovereign right of our people,” Danilov said.
He also noted that Ukraine needs more Western weapons, saying that “this is our only request to our partners – to give us more weapons for self-defense.”
Danilov criticized Germany for refusing to supply arms to Ukraine, also accusing Berlin of failing to properly apologize to Ukrainians for Nazi crimes during World War II, when Ukraine was part of the Soviet Union.
“They apologized to Russia, as if we were one country. Then they shouldn’t talk about democracy, it’s better to let them say that they support authoritarian regimes and cooperate with them,” Oleksiy Danilov, Secretary of the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine, said.
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