Diplomatic methods cannot be applied for the return of the territory of the Donetsk and Lugansk People’s Republics to Ukraine. And whoever proposes it wants the political collapse of President Volodymyr Zelensky. This was expressed by Oleksiy Danilov, Secretary of the country’s National Security and Defense Council (NSDC), in an interview with Ukrinform.
“If someone wants a political assassination of our president, they can propose it. The Russian Federation has not removed the task of liquidating Vladimir Zelensky from the agenda. They did not succeed in physically liquidating the Ukrainian president, so now they will try to liquidate it politically, ”said Danilov.
Thus, he answered the question about the possibility of using diplomatic mechanisms to return the Donbass lands. The head of the National Security and Defense Council explained that with the current intensity of hostilities, it is impossible to use diplomacy.
Danilov noted that although there was a “warm period” last February and March, Kiev does not currently see any attempts or plans to physically eliminate Zelensky. At the same time, he stressed that the threat to the head of state has always existed and there are specific instructions to combat it.
The Secretary of the National Security and Defense Council also stated: published Recently on social networks “12 steps for the deoccupation of Crimea” (Kiev considers the peninsula, which is part of the Russian Federation, as a temporarily occupied territory. – socialbites.ca) is not a legal document, but his own thoughts. . He also believes that there is both a military and diplomatic path for the return of Crimea.
“Of course, we were very impressed with the diplomatic way of avoiding the casualties and tragedies caused by the killing of people. It’s a priority. “But if the diplomatic path doesn’t work, we have the right to develop our own vision of another way to liberate our lands,” he said.
said.
In an interview, he also said that he knew the exact number of Russian soldiers participating in the special operations, but could not name them. Also, Danilov admitted that Kiev received intelligence from foreign partners to conduct operations against Russia.
“If certain units of the Russian Federation appear somewhere, our army will certainly receive information from Ukrainian intelligence, partners and other sources. After that, the decision will be made,” he said.
The head of the National Security and Defense Council called the statements of Russian President Vladimir Putin on the deployment of tactical nuclear weapons on the territory of Belarus, which is blackmailing Europe and NATO.
This is blackmailing Europe, blackmailing NATO countries. There are some international obligations. If Russia fulfills all its international obligations, the world should react to such actions in a completely different way, ”added Danilov.
He also promised to prove that Russia bought warplanes from Iran. But he also admitted that Kiev had no knowledge of military supplies from other countries.
Russia made attempts to start peace negotiations with Ukraine in the spring of 2022, after the start of special operations. However, these processes stopped. Moscow has repeatedly stated that any attempt to stop any dialogue comes from Kiev, acting at Washington’s behest.
In October last year, Zelensky, by his legislative decree, banned negotiations with the current Russian leadership. The Kremlin and the Russian Foreign Ministry said they are open to dialogue, but they do not see any preconditions for this from the Ukraine side.
Andriy Sibiga, vice-president of the Ukrainian presidential office, said in an interview with The Financial Times the previous day that Kiev is ready to discuss the status of Crimea with the Russian side as the Ukrainian Armed Forces approaches its borders. peninsula.
“If we succeed in achieving our strategic goals on the battlefield and when we come to the administrative border with Crimea, we are ready to open a diplomatic page to discuss this issue,” he said.