You're reading: Defense minister rules out armed forces’ intervention in Ukraine crisis

The defense minister has ruled out the possibility of Ukraine's armed forces intervening in the current domestic political crisis unless a state of emergency or martial law is declared.

“Under the constitution, the Armed Forces of Ukraine may only be activated in the event of a state of emergency or martial law. Otherwise, the military will do what it is doing today, in peacetime,” a Defense Ministry statement quoted Pavlo Lebedev as saying.

“Today there unfortunately exist a great deal of provocative statements by individual politicians and items in the media about the activities of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. Some of them – such as those about the transfer of Airborne Forces under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of the Interior – are patently senseless. But we won’t be provoked,” Lebedev said.