Ukraine has nothing to fear from a potential full-scale invasion by Russia, Ukraine presidential aide Mykhaylo Podolyak told CGTN Europe. Podolyak said Ukraine "understands Russian mentality and their world view," and knows how Moscow might invade and "what they truly fear."
Discussing the possibility of facing Russian troops at home, Volodymyr Zelensky's top aide said Ukraine has "an excellent military infrastructure" and has obtained "psychological resilience during eight years of military action."
Since the Russian invasion and subsequent seizing of control of Crimea in 2014, Podolyak said the country's main capital is the psychological steadiness of the people of Ukraine.
"Our society is ready to pay any price for its freedom to choose what it wants," Podolyak said. "I believe that Russia's problem is that it tries to extrapolate its mentality, a mentality of a closed society where freedom is not a public value, on Ukraine. That is their mistake."
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'This is nonsense!'
Last year, as tensions were rising at the Russia-Ukraine border, President Vladimir Putin wrote an essay titled "On the Historical Unity of Russians and Ukrainians." In this document, Putin dismissed the idea of Ukrainian identity and degraded its independence, saying that "modern Ukraine was entirely created by Russia or, to be more precise, by the Bolsheviks."
The claims were repeated this week in Putin's televised address to the Russian people and Podolyak says not only are they historically inaccurate, but they're also utter "nonsense."
"I don't see how can you justify an attack on Ukrainian citizens today by trying to play with historical facts," said Podolyak.
"I think that Putin's speech will never be considered a legally reasonable justification to invade, when we look at causes and results of war from the legal perspective to see who is responsible for it," he added.
The aide cited other countries with long and complex links with their neighbors but Podolyak argues, they don't use that as an excuse to invade other countries.
"Let's take China as an example. It has a deeply-rooted history, but it solves its current problems based on today's realities. It doesn't play with history in that sense," he said. "That is because China is a truly strong country, and strong countries don't justify their actions by some historical insults. That is what Putin is doing. Justification of aggression by some historical insults or disputes is the prerogative of a weak player."
Video editor: Feng Beijing