Ukrainian Deputy Defense Minister Volodimir Havrilov has ventured that Ukrainian troops could start the offensive on the Crimean peninsula by the end of December as part of their advance in the east of the country.
«We could set foot in Crimea by the end of December – is it possible? It is possible,» the deputy minister explained in statements to Sky News during an interview given while visiting the UK this week.
Havrilov, a retired general, has stressed the importance represented by the Crimean peninsula, incorporated by Russia in 2014 after an annexation by force ratified in a plebiscite considered illegal by the Ukrainian authorities and their allies.
The deputy minister has assured in this regard that peace talks with the Kremlin can only occur when Russia has abandoned «every inch of Ukraine», Crimean peninsula included.
A scenario that, according to the deputy minister, has the full support of the Ukrainian people. «The existing consensus in Ukrainian society is that we have to go all the way, no matter what kind of scenario is on the table,» he added in reference to the possible use of weapons of mass destruction by Russia.
«The possibility is remote, but it would be a drama,» Havrilov has indicated about a nuclear option that Russia has ruled out on numerous occasions before accusing Ukraine and its allies of fueling that kind of rhetoric.
«People have paid a lot of blood, a lot of efforts for what we have already achieved and everyone knows that any delay is just the continuation of this war against Ukraine’s existence as a nation,» he has indicated.
