President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky believes that Ukrainian intelligence is effectively counteracting external aggression and should move on to “offensive actions to defend national interests.” He stated this at a meeting with employees of the Foreign Intelligence Service (SVR) on the occasion of a professional holiday.
“Today our state is confronting extremely dangerous threats, in particular, threats to sovereignty, territorial integrity and unity. In this decisive period, effective intelligence plays an extremely important role. We have learned to effectively contain and counteract external aggressions. I am sure it is time to move on to offensive actions to defend our national interests. You have the experience and capabilities to implement such a strategy,” Zelensky said (quote from the website of the President of Ukraine).
According to him, “information about the plans and actions of the enemy in all areas is a reliable guarantee for making timely and correct decisions in difficult situations.” Also, Mr. Zelensky considers it important to obtain reliable information so that no one manipulates it. The head of state also stressed that no one should use Ukraine in their own interests.
Recall that Kiev and Western countries have recently been very concerned about the information that appeared in the Western media about a possible Russian attack on Ukraine. The Kremlin has repeatedly stated that Russia has no plans to attack a neighboring country.
Against the background of the spread of information about a possible attack on Ukraine, the United States and Great Britain announced the reduction of their diplomatic missions in Kiev. In addition, the European Union announced the allocation of €1.2 billion to Ukraine as part of macro-financial assistance. According to European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, financial support will help “meet the needs” of Ukraine due to the “conflict” with Russia.
For more details on the situation around Ukraine, see Kommersant’s article “Do the Russians Want Canoes?”