There is no full-scale military operation by Russia, but there are provocations, purpose of which is for Ukraine to respond militarily - Danilov
Secretary of the National Security and Defense Council Oleksiy Danilov said that at present there is no full-scale military operation by the Russian Federation, but there are provocations, the purpose of which is for Ukraine to begin to respond militarily.
"If we talk about a full-scale operation [by Russia] against our country, then we do not see this. What we see today: provocations from the Russian Federation, they inflicted them constantly. Today there was a massive provocation [shelling near Stanytsia Luhanska]. What is their purpose? The goal is to force us start responding militarily. In order to accuse us of being involved - what they would like to deploy on our territory. We must be restrained and not fall for provocations," Danilov said on the air of the Right to Power (Pravo na Vladu) program on the TSN TV channel on Thursday.
He said that there is an excellent understanding of the state of the army in the National Security Council and at the presidential level.
"They are absolutely ready, motivated, they understand what they needs to do," Danilov said.
Also, according to the Secretary of the National Security and Defense Council, the fact that "Ukraine received Stinger man-portable anti-aircraft missile systems will cool Russia's ardor to wage a full-scale war."
Answering the question of whether Ukraine would raise the question of the legitimacy of the guarantees of the Budapest Memorandum, Danilov replied that "if [Western partners] provide them to Ukraine, it will be good, if not, then Ukraine has much better guarantees like the army, society and the national resistance."
"They will not look at what happened before. We understand where and in what condition we are, we have the strength to protect our country and remove from here those who have a desire to undermine our country from the inside," he said.
"We should have started dealing with the Budapest memorandum in 2014... Can we go back to it? Should we?... There are signatures of presidents, prime ministers of great countries. Will they refuse them - I can't say, I don't have such an answer," he said.
He also said that "Ukraine today is defending not only itself, but the whole of Europe."
