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Today Russia is not ready for a full-scale attack on Ukraine, but “a cornered bear can do great stupidity.” This was stated by the first president of Ukraine, the head of the Ukrainian delegation in the trilateral contact group to resolve the situation in Donbass, Leonid Kravchuk, in an interview with GORDON.
“There is such an expression: the beast, cornered, is the most dangerous. I think [президента РФ Владимира] Putin was cornered. Let’s just take one figure: no matter how the Russian Federation boasts of its capabilities, China’s GDP today is $ 15 trillion and Russia’s GDP is $ 1.5 trillion. 10 times less than China and 12 times less than the United States. Can a country with such an economy and under sanctions compete with the world’s leading powers? No, Russia today is not ready for a comprehensive offensive. Everybody knows it and everybody sees it. But when this bear, who is not prepared for resistance, is cornered, he can do so even with a cool head, but with great stupidity. By the way, if Putin really had a completely cool head, a palace would not have been built in Gelendzhik, “he said.
Kravchuk: Russia may foolishly go on the offensive against Ukraine. Even Putin’s roof can go
On July 22, 2020, the Trilateral Contact Group agreed to a full and complete ceasefire in Donbas starting at midnight on July 27. The Ukrainian side regularly reports cases of violations of the ceasefire by militants.
In early 2021, the situation in Donbass worsened. The Joint Forces Operations Headquarters has repeatedly reported that the enemy is firing snipers. On February 4, Interior Minister Arsen Avakov said that “there is no longer any peace process in Donbass.” Another exacerbation occurred on March 26: in the area of the village of Shumy, Donetsk region, illegal armed formations from Russia opened fire with mortars, grenade launchers and large-caliber machine guns. As a result of the bombing, four soldiers of the Armed Forces of Ukraine were killed. Two more soldiers were injured.
According to data from the President’s Office as of April 1, since the beginning of the year, the Russian occupation troops in Donbas violated the ceasefire more than 570 times.
On March 30, at an extraordinary meeting of the Verkhovna Rada, the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, Ruslan Khomchak declared that Russia increases military presence near the border with Ukraine in the south, east and north: in the Bryansk, Voronezh regions, as well as in occupied Crimea.
“An additional concentration of up to 25 battalion tactical groups is expected, which, together with existing forces and assets deployed near the state border of Ukraine, pose a threat to the military security of the state,” he said.
Khomchak emphasized that the Ukrainian army is ready to give an adequate response “both in the case of an escalation in the JFO zone, and in the case of a complication of the military-political, military-strategic situation around Ukraine.”
Kremlin Chairman Dmitry Peskov said that the movement of Russian troops through the territory of the Russian Federation should not disturb other states, it does not threaten them in any way. On April 2, Peskov accused the Ukrainian army of “provocations in Donbass” and called the situation on the demarcation line “very frightening”. Commenting on this, Ukraine’s Foreign Minister Dmitry Kuleba said that in recent weeks Russia has been conducting a systemic disinformation campaign about Kiev’s alleged preparation for an escalation in Donbas. He assured that Ukraine is fighting for a peaceful settlement.
On April 2, US leader Joe Biden confirmed his support for Ukraine in a telephone conversation with President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
Zelenskiy said that the Ukrainian army is “capable of repelling anyone” and this strengthens Ukraine’s negotiating position in the diplomatic agreement it seeks.
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