In what can be seen as change of tune, Ukrainian top officials are now trying to downplay Russia’s military threat with cautious claims the thing is blown out of proportion.

Russia still doesn’t have enough troops on our borders for a full-scale invasion into Ukraine, argued Dmytro Kuleba during a briefing on Tuesday, arguing  that Moscow is still not having ‘some important calculations and systems’ to go ahead with such sort of a military campaign.

The foreign minister admitted Kyiv is still in a grave situation as Russia looks for way to roil the country on many fronts.

‘It is happening now. Russia is spreading panic in Ukraine, putting pressure on our financial system, staging cyberattacks against Ukraine. All of which is part of Moscow’s plan.’

Dmytro Kuleba alleged Russia’s president would be ‘happy’ if such plan worked out well for him as then he wouldn’t ‘need to use a military force’ against Ukraine, which would really put Kyiv on line.

Earlier this week, Ukraine’s president urged Ukrainians to stay calm assuring that the situation is ‘under control’ and there are ‘no reasons for panic’.  Such statements can strike many as a bit odd after Western leaders have spoken about how grave the situation is on Ukraine-Russia borders.