KIEV, Ukraine, Nov. 17 (UPI) -- "We are on the verge of the next stage of a full-scale invasion" by Russian forces, Ukraine's interior minister told the INSIDER online newspaper.
Arsen Avakov, citing public government statements, said "there are about 7,000" Russian troops inside the Donetsk and Luhansk regions of eastern Ukraine.
Russia has repeatedly denied its military forces are inside Ukraine to help bolster pro-Russian separatists.
"Will there be an invasion? This is one of the questions as to when a mentally ill person will have another attack. Maybe yes, and maybe not," Avakov said. "It all depends on our readiness and consolidation."
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If there is an invasion, the interior minister said that while Ukraine was not prepared for a full-scale war with Russia, Ukraine would continue to fight to protect its sovereignty.
Last week, NATO confirmed that "Russian tanks, Russian artillery, Russian air defense systems and Russian combat troops" were observed crossing the border into Ukraine.
At an emergency U.N. Security Council session Nov. 12 on Russia military presence in Ukraine, Jens Anders Toyberg-Frandzen, Assistant Secretary-General ad interim for U.N. Political Affairs, reported that the cease-fire in eastern Ukraine is under "continuous and serious strain."
According to the Minsk Protocol, all parties to the Ukraine conflict agreed on Sept. 5 to de-escalate the crisis through the institution of an immediate cease-fire and the withdrawal of illegal armed groups, mercenaries and military equipment -- two stipulations that have largely been ignored.
Andriy Lysenko, spokesman for Ukraine's National Security and Defense Council, said Monday that despite repeat violations, Ukraine will not hold new meetings in Minsk. "There is no point in meeting and signing a new document as long as they are not being fulfilled."
