{"id":55275,"date":"2021-12-14T19:53:55","date_gmt":"2021-12-14T19:53:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes\/uncategorized\/2021\/12\/14\/ukrainian-troop-buildup-is-defensive-defense-minister-says\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T09:46:22","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T09:46:22","slug":"ukrainian-troop-buildup-is-defensive-defense-minister-says","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes\/flashpoints\/2021\/12\/14\/ukrainian-troop-buildup-is-defensive-defense-minister-says\/","title":{"rendered":"Ukrainian troop buildup is defensive, defense minister says"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">COPENHAGEN, Denmark \u2014 Ukrainian Defense Minister Oleksii Reznikov said Tuesday that the former Soviet republic has \u201cno plans to attack anyone,\u201d and its gathering of troops is purely defensive amid speculations of a possible Russian invasion of Ukraine as soon as next month.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In recent weeks, there has been <a href=\"https:\/\/www.militarytimes.com\/flashpoints\/2021\/12\/08\/russians-have-120000-troops-on-its-border-increased-intel-gathering-ukraine-ministry-says\/\" target=\"_blank\">a massive Russian troop buildup near Ukraine\u2019s border<\/a> which has prompted fears of a possible invasion in Kyiv and the West.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Moscow has denied plans to attack Ukraine and in turn blamed Ukraine\u2019s own military buildup in the east of the country, where Ukrainian forces have been fighting with Russia-backed separatists since 2014. Russian officials alleged that Kyiv might try to reclaim the areas controlled by the rebels by force. Ukrainian officials have denied an intention to do so.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"5472\" height=\"3648\" src=\"\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/AP21348469502797.jpg.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-93366\" srcset=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/AP21348469502797.jpg.jpg 5472w, https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/AP21348469502797.jpg.jpg?resize=300,200 300w, https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/AP21348469502797.jpg.jpg?resize=768,512 768w, https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/AP21348469502797.jpg.jpg?resize=1024,683 1024w, https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/AP21348469502797.jpg.jpg?resize=1536,1024 1536w, https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/AP21348469502797.jpg.jpg?resize=2048,1365 2048w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 5472px) 100vw, 5472px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Ukraine&#8217;s Defence Minister Oleksii Reznikov, left and Sweden&#8217;s Defence Minister Peter Hultqvist hold a press conference in Stockholm, Sweden, Tuesday, Dec. 14, 2021. (Christine Olsson\/TT News Agency via AP)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cWe don\u2019t plan to attack anyone and we don\u2019t plan to invade any other country\u2019s territory,\u201d Reznikov said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cOur defense capacity is important to protect our people, our society, our lives.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">He told reporters that war in Ukraine means war in Europe, adding that \u201cthere are clear signals from the international community that Ukraine will not be left alone in case of a Russian invasion.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\t<aside class=\"smg-interstitial-link wp-block-smg-interstitial-link\">\n\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/militarytimes\/news\/your-military\/2021\/12\/13\/full-on-russian-invasion-and-threat-to-us-troops-in-ukraine-unlikely-right-now-experts-say\/\" class=\"smg-interstitial-link__inner\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"smg-interstitial-link__media\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"300\" height=\"200\" src=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/Russia8.jpg.jpg?w=300\" class=\"smg-interstitial-link__image wp-post-image\" alt=\"\" \/>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"smg-interstitial-link__content\">\n\t\t\t\t<span class=\"smg-interstitial-link__kicker\">Related<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t<h3 class=\"smg-interstitial-link__title\">Full-on Russian invasion, threat to US troops in Ukraine unlikely right now<\/h3>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p class=\"smg-interstitial-link__excerpt\">Experts told Military Times to expect a &quot;permanently&quot; militarized border between Russia and Ukraine, and an invasion could be triggered if Ukraine attains advanced weapons.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/a>\n\t<\/aside>\n\t\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Russian President Vladimir Putin has strongly emphasized that Ukraine\u2019s aspirations to join NATO represent <a href=\"https:\/\/www.militarytimes.com\/flashpoints\/2021\/11\/30\/putin-warns-west-moscow-has-red-line-about-ukraine-nato\/\" target=\"_blank\">a red line for Moscow<\/a>, and also expressed concern about plans by some Alliance members to set up military training centers in Ukraine. He said that would give them a military foothold there even without Ukraine joining the 30-country military organization.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Reznikov said that Ukraine\u2019s right to join any military alliance, including NATO, was written down in the country\u2019s Constitution, adding \u201cwe are going to be a de facto NATO member and implement NATO standards.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cWe are going to make to reforms because that is what we need,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Reznikov was in Stockholm to meet his Swedish counterpart Peter Hultqvist and Sweden\u2019s Foreign Minister Ann Linde.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>In recent weeks, there has been a massive Russian troop buildup near Ukraine\u2019s border which has prompted fears of a possible invasion in Kyiv and the West.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":46572,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-noindex":"","_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-nofollow":"","_yoast_wpseo_canonical":"","_acf":"","_yoast_wpseo_primary_category":8,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","_smg_distribution_targets":[]},"categories":[101,8,23,89,12,26],"tags":[],"coauthors":[1355],"class_list":["post-55275","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-daily-news-roundup","category-flashpoints","category-home","category-middle-column","category-news","category-newsletters"],"acf":{"subheadline":"","legacy_arc_id":"MKBBV3OBHJDPZIZ6HB5GOZBZDA","arc_canonical_url":"\/flashpoints\/2021\/12\/14\/ukrainian-troop-buildup-is-defensive-defense-minister-says\/","remove_feature_photo":false,"is_sponsored":false,"subtype":"","redirect_url":"","disable_inline_ads":false,"native_logo_pretext":"Presented 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