Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko yesterday pledged to give separatist regions in eastern Ukraine more autonomy, but said he would not allow the country to be ripped apart.
He also announced that Russia had withdrawn most of the troops it allegedly sent across the border to back pro-Kremlin rebels, a move that could further ease tensions after the signing of a ceasefire deal last week.
His declaration came just as EU envoys were gathering in Brussels to discuss a new wave of sanctions against Moscow over its role in the conflict in the former Soviet state.
Photo: Reuters
Poroshenko said the ceasefire — the first backed by both Kiev and Moscow since pro-Russian rebels launched an uprising against Kiev’s rule in April — had dramatically improved security in the war-ravaged region.
“According to the latest information I received from our intelligence headquarters, 70 percent of Russia’s forces have been removed,” the presidency Web site quoted Poroshenko as telling his key ministers.
Poroshenko said he intended to submit a bill to parliament next week granting parts of the east temporary self-rule, but that it did not mean they were slipping out from under Kiev’s control.
Photo: Reuters
“Ukraine will not make any concessions on issues of its territorial integrity,” he said. “There is and can be no talk of federalization or some estrangement [by the rebel-held regions].”
However, one rebel leader immediately vowed to seek outright independence in what promises to be arduous peace talks aimed at putting a permanent end to the five-month conflict that has killed more than 2,700 people and frayed East-West ties.
“We are not considering remaining part of Ukraine,” Donetsk “deputy prime minister” Andrei Purgin said.
Meanwhile, Amnesty International yesterday said it had documented evidence of war crimes by both sides in the conflict in eastern Ukraine.
Amnesty secretary-general Salil Shetty told a news conference in Moscow that some separatists, backed by Russian troops, and Ukraine’s Aidar battalion had committed human rights abuses in the five-month-old conflict.
He cited satellite imagery as well as witnesses’ accounts for the allegations.
Additional reporting by Reuters
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