Russia can escalate situation in Ukraine at any time - Poroshenko

He said this in an interview with German newspaper Bild, the press service of the head of state reported.

"[Russian President Vladimir] Putin has so many troops in Ukraine that he can contribute to the escalation of the situation at any moment if he wishes so. I once told [German] Chancellor [Angela] Merkel: 'Can you imagine that there are more tanks in eastern Ukraine than the Bundeswehr now has?' There are 600 tanks in this small territory," Poroshenko said.

He recalled that before the signing of the Minsk agreements, in particular in February 2015, almost 25 Ukrainian soldiers died daily from the bullets of regular Russian troops. At the same time, the president stressed that Putin had not fulfilled the agreements reached in Minsk and "always, whenever he wants, contributes to another escalation."

The head of state stressed that 824 people had been killed in the war after the signing of the Minsk agreements. 

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