“We will be where we deem necessary”
Oleksiy Danilov, Secretary of the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine, in an interview with the Kyiv Post declaration“There will definitely be the end of Russia.” According to him, Russia “is and will not exist in it now” after the completion of the military special operation in Ukraine.
To the journalist’s question whether the Ukrainian army could be on the territory of Russia to protect Ukraine, he answered in the affirmative.
“Yes, absolutely. Wherever the defense of our homeland requires us to be, we are there. And we will not ask anyone. And all this talk about the need to offend someone is nonsense, ”Danilov stressed.
According to him, “there is a front”, the line must be preserved, the struggle does not weaken anywhere. He noted that “the enemy may take certain actions in any direction”.
“We already have very modern weapons. Hundreds of Russian soldiers could be destroyed for one use of such weapons. The Russians do not have such weapons. This is our advantage,” said the secretary of the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine, confidently.
He recalled that in 1994 Russia was Ukraine’s “security guarantor”. After that, Kyiv sent “a huge amount of nuclear weapons” to the Russian Federation, and according to him, Russia is now “blackmailing the whole world”.
According to Danilov, in the 1990s the West “made the wrong decision to monopolize Russia instead of supporting Ukraine, Kazakhstan and other countries.”
“And that was their big mistake. I think they have now recognized it. If today there is no situation with the elimination of nuclear weapons on the territory of Russia, then Ukraine and the whole world cannot live in peace. Because matches, weapons and sharp objects need to be taken from the insane, ”the Ukrainian official concluded.
“What’s going on in Russia is none of our business”
On June 1, Vladimir Zelensky ruled out the possibility of a Russian attack. “We are not interested in what is happening in Russia. We are only interested in our own region,” he said.
On August 23, the Ukrainian leader promised to “take” Crimea from Russia “at all costs”.
According to Reuters, Ukraine will return the Crimean peninsula from Russia as it sees fit, and it does not need to consult with other countries for this.
On December 16, in an interview at an LCI interview, Zelensky reiterated that Ukraine’s only interest is the “liberation” of its territory. He stated that he was ready to negotiate only with Russia, which was ready to “return to us what belongs to us according to international law”.
According to him, the operation “to extradite Crimea” has not yet begun.
“When it happens, you will hear about it. But I believe that in the minds this conquest has already begun, our determination and our will is already there, <…> There is excellent solidarity in the Ukrainian public to achieve this goal. We need to prepare for this, realize that the struggle will be tough and no one will leave the stone easily, but we are determined.”
On December 28, he delivered an annual speech to the Verkhovna Rada, saying that Ukraine’s ultimate goal is the restoration of the country’s territorial integrity and the release of all captives.
USA location
On December 7, John Kirby, the strategic communications coordinator for the White House National Security Council, said that the United States did not encourage Ukraine to attack Russian territory.
“Of course we did not encourage and did not give Ukraine the right to attack Russia,” he said.
According to him, Washington is only focusing on ensuring that Kiev “has the opportunity”. <…> for self-defense, for the defense of Ukrainian territory.” At the same time, the US is consulting with Ukraine on the accountability of the weapons sent, but Kyiv “makes its own decisions” regarding their use.
“These are Ukrainian decisions that need to be talked about somehow. If they decide to attack Russia, you must assume that it was their decision and you should respect that decision. It’s their decision, we didn’t call them to do that,” added the White House representative.
On December 16, Kirby said that since the United States considers the peninsula to be Ukrainian territory, Ukraine recognizes its right to plan and conduct military operations in Crimea.
“Crimea is Ukraine. Ukrainians also have the right to decide where, how, at what speed, at what scale and in what timeframe they will conduct operations within their own country,” he explained.
What do they say in Crimea?
Olga Kovitidi, a member of the Federation Council from Crimea, told the Moskva Speaks radio station on December 25 that Ukraine’s peninsula plans will not come true.
“The enemy will not be able to take an inch of Crimean territory,” said the senator. He recalled that “there are already French, German, Italian, British cemeteries” on the territory of the peninsula.
“We must ask the Ukrainians and Europeans: do we need another cemetery in the Crimea where their sons and children will lie?” the senator asked.