By KYIV. Dec 30 (Interfax-Ukraine) – The Armed Forces of Ukraine may end up on the territory of Russia if it is necessary to protect Ukraine, said Oleksiy Danilov, Secretary of the National Security and Defense Council.
"If for the protection of our country it is necessary to be where we deem necessary, we will be there. And we will not ask anyone. And all this talk that there is no need to annoy someone is nonsense," Danilov said in an interview with Kyiv Post, answering the question whether the Ukrainian army can be on the territory of Russia to protect Ukraine.
He also noted that Ukraine would react if hostilities start from Belarus.
"Belarus is occupied by Russia. The Russian military behaves there like they are at home. When a decision is made, God forbid, that the Belarusians start hostilities, then we will react," he said, adding that so far not a single case of the participation of Belarusians in the war against Ukraine had been identified.
At the same time, according to Danilov, Russia may continue its pressure on Alexander Lukashenko, who is not recognized by the USA and the EU as the legally elected president of Belarus, with the aim of Belarus entering the war against Ukraine.
"The actions demonstrate that at present there is no final agreement. But this does not mean that Putin will not try to put pressure on Lukashenko in the future. This is not Putin’s first attempt to involve Lukashenko, as a subject, in this ‘bloody meat grinder’ that the Russian Federation began on February 24," the NSDC secretary said.
"I emphasize once again that Lukashenko understands that if he does this, then he will need to put an end to life in the near future. No one in the world, in Ukraine, Belarus will forgive him for this," he concluded.
