It only depends only on Russian President Vladimir Putin whether there will be an escalation in Donbas. Secretary of the National Security and Defense Council Oleksiy Danilov expressed such opinion in an interview with lb.ua.
"Whether there will be an escalation depends only on Putin. From our side, we do not plan any aggravations, because we value the life of each of our soldiers and we want everything to end as soon as possible. The president does everything in his power," Danilov said.
Commenting on the statement of the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine Ruslan Khomchak about Russia's withdrawal of troops to the borders of Ukraine, Danilov stated that the Russian Federation did not withdraw its troops from the borders:
"The Russians have never withdrawn their troops from there. From the moment the hostilities began, they are constantly there in large numbers. But today, yes, there is an intensification of all processes," the Secretary of the National Security and Defense Council added.
Earlier, Ruslan Khomchak, the Commander-in-Chief of Armed Forces of Ukraine said that the Russian Federation gathers tactical forces from its western and southern regions and brings them close to Ukrainian border.
The situation in Donbas has been escalating recently. Ukraine appealed to the OSCE asking to support Ukraine's initiative to convene an emergency meeting of the Trilateral Contact Group to discuss immediate and decisive action to restore the ceasefire and return to strict implementation of the agreements reached on July 22, 2020.
