‘Putin wants to destroy Ukraine’

Russian President Vladimir Putin is bent on destroying Ukraine but there is no major risk of an imminent invasion, a senior Ukrainian security official said on Friday.

Speaking to AFP in an interview, Oleksiy Danilov, secretary of the National Security and Defence Council, said that talk of Moscow's invasion could destabilise Ukraine and play into Putin's hands.

"Putin wants to destroy our country. Will he succeed? No, he will not," said Danillov.

"Our citizens will protect our country," he said, adding that both the army and civilians will form a broad national "resistance" movement if Russia attacks.

"We are going to protect our country. Full stop."

Tensions have been building since mid-November when Washington sounded the alarm over a massive Russian troop build-up on Ukraine's border and accused Putin of plotting an invasion.

But Danilov, 59, downplayed the risk of a major military escalation, saying Ukrainian officials have not seen any "critical build-up."

According to Kiev's estimates, the number of Russian troops along Ukraine's borders has increased from around 93,000 troops in October to 104,000 now.

"We don't think this is a big surge," Danilov said.