Ukrainian Defense Minister Alexei Reznikov described the consequences for Western countries in the event of a "full-scale Russian invasion" and called on Western leaders to support the country. He wrote about this on December 3 in an article for the Atlantic Council analytical center.
Reznikov explains Ukraine's calm reaction to allied reports of a possible Russian invasion by saying that "Russian aggression has not stopped and has become part of everyday life."
The Minister noted that the Ukrainian army has changed, today it is "one of the strongest among the land forces of Europe with more than 400 thousand combat veterans." At the same time, Reznikov sees the only uncertainty in Europe's understanding of what "a full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine will mean for the rest of the continent."
"A major war in Ukraine would plunge the whole of Europe into crisis. The sudden appearance of three to five million Ukrainian refugees fleeing the Russian invasion will be just one of the many serious problems facing European society. (...) A major war would seriously disrupt and possibly completely prevent the import of many goods from both Ukraine and Russia, creating a number of food security problems for the entire continent," Reznikov said.
He concludes his reasoning by admitting that escalation can still be avoided. According to him, Moscow needs to be convinced of the excessively high price of the "new offensive", which will have negative political, economic and social consequences, the Minister of Defense of Ukraine stressed.
At the end of November, Alexey Reznikov asked the head of the Pentagon, Lloyd Austin, for additional assistance in protecting the airspace and coast of the country. The ministers held talks on the situation on the borders of Ukraine, following which they came to an agreement on building up the country's defense potential within the framework of strategic defense agreements signed on August 31, 2021.
