The Foreign Ministry of Ukraine has said that it does not rule out the possibility of provocative acts that could be used as a pretext for resuming full-scale combat activities.
“In line with the separate statements made by the Russian officials that the antiterrorist operation forces allegedly plan offensive operations, we don’t rule out that it could be done to use possible provocative acts for further aggressive actions of the Russian and terrorist troops,” Foreign Ministry spokesman Yevhen Perebyinis said at a news conference on Nov. 18.
Kyiv is not planning an offensive in the southeastern part of Ukraine, he stressed.
“I’d like to state clearly once again that the ATO forces are not planning any offensive operations, but they will be ready to offer a worthy rebuff to those who try to attack us,” he said.
Despite the exacerbation of the situation in the military operation area, Ukraine attaches priority to a peaceful resolution of the conflict, expects that President Petro Poroshenko’s peace plan will be fully implemented, and remains committed to the Minsk agreements, he said.
Ukraine’s diplomatic and political efforts are focused, among other things, on making sure that Russia returns to practical implementation of these agreements, Perebyinis said.
