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Russian President Vladimir Putin is determined to destroy Ukraine, but there is no great danger of an eventual invasion, a senior Ukrainian security official said on Friday.
Speaking to AFP, Oleksiy Danilov, secretary of the National Security and Defense Council, said talks on invading Moscow could destabilize Ukraine.
“Putin wants to destroy our country. Will he succeed? “No, he will not succeed,” Danilov said.
“Our citizens will defend our country,” he said, adding that the military and civilians would form a broad national “resistance” movement if Russia attacked.
“We will defend our country. That’s it, “said Danillov.
Tensions have risen since mid-November when Washington sounded the alarm over a massive gathering of Russian troops on the Ukrainian border and accused Russian President Vladimir Putin of plotting an invasion.
But Danilov, 59, downplayed the risk of a major military escalation, saying Ukrainian officials had not seen any critical danger.
According to Kiev estimates, the number of Russian troops along the borders of Ukraine has increased from about 93 thousand troops in October to 104 thousand now.
“We do not think this is a big increase,” Danilov said.
President’s security aide Volodymyr Zelensky stressed that the authorities did not want to “intimidate the people” with the war talks as this “would destabilize the situation inside the country”.
Russian leader Vladimir Putin has for years questioned the legitimacy of Ukraine’s borders and insisted that Russians and Ukrainians are “one people.”
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