KYIV, Jan 31 - Ukraine’s security chief said that about 120,000 Russian troops are concentrated near Ukraine and Moscow may stage provocations “at any moment,” but argued that launching a full-fledged invasion would require massive preparations that would be easily spotted, The Associated Press reported.

“The preparatory period that will be noticed by the entire world could take from three to seven days,” Oleksiy Danilov said. “We aren’t seeing it yet. We clearly understand what’s going on and we are calmly preparing for it.”

He deplored the decision by the U.S., Britain, Australia, Germany and Canada to withdraw some of their diplomats and dependents from the Ukrainian capital of Kyiv, saying the move “wasn’t pleasant for us” and emphasizing that “we don’t think that there is a threat right now.”

U.S. President Joe Biden told Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in a call Thursday that there is a “distinct possibility” that Russia could invade the country in February. But the Ukrainian leader played down the war fears, arguing Friday that the Russian troop buildup could be part of Moscow’s attempts to exert “psychological pressure” and sow panic.

“We can’t allow panic in the country,” Danilov told the AP. “It’s very difficult for us to maintain control over the economic situation when all the media keep saying that the war will start tomorrow. Panic is a sister of defeat.”

Danilov said that Ukraine has the potential to quickly and dramatically beef up its 250,000-strong military in case of a Russian offensive.

“They will face a response from our society, our citizens, our military,” Danilov told the AP. “We can put 2 (million) to 2.5 million people under arms.”

He noted that up to 420,000 Ukrainians have gained combat experience in fighting with Russia-backed separatists in eastern Ukraine and up to 1 million in the nation of 41 million people have hunting licenses.

Danilov pointed at the Ukrainian Interior Ministry’s announcement Monday that it had thwarted a plot to stage riots in Kyiv and other Ukrainian cities, saying that Russian President Vladimir Putin hopes to achieve his goal of destroying Ukraine through internal destabilization even without an invasion.

“Regrettably, we have many agents of influence of the Russian Federation here, who are behind the plans of destabilizing our country from within,” he said pointing at a pro-Russian party that has a sizeable presence in Ukraine’s parliament.

After the 2014 ouster of a Kremlin-friendly president in Kyiv, Moscow annexed Ukraine’s Crimean Peninsula and backed an insurgency in the country’s eastern industrial heartland. Fighting between Ukrainian forces and Russia-backed rebels has killed over 14,000 people, and efforts to reach a settlement there have stalled.

Since the start of the separatist conflict in Ukraine, Russia has been accused of sending troops and weapons to the separatists, something it has denied. It has given out over 700,000 Russian passports to people living in rebel-held areas in eastern Ukraine.

Russia accused the West on Monday of “whipping up tensions” over Ukraine and said the U.S. had brought “pure Nazis” to power in Kyiv as the U.N. Security Council held a stormy and bellicose debate on Moscow’s troop buildup near its southern neighbor. (ap/ez)