Ukraine's Security Council deciding on southeast ceasefire extension
30 June 2014, 22:13 -- Independent Ukrainian parliamentary deputy Oleg Lyashko said he had met with President Petr Poroshenko on Monday to discuss the situation in eastern Ukraine. 'I have just met with Poroshenko and I heard what I wanted to hear. The content of the president's decisions on the counterterrorism operation is what Ukraine is waiting for,' the lawmaker wrote on Facebook on Monday evening.
Lyashko also said that the president is currently chairing a meeting of the National Security and Defense Council. 'We agreed that he would announce these decisions himself after the meeting of the National Security and Defense Council which has just started,' he said.
No official information from the presidential press service about the National Security and Defense Council's meeting is available to Interfax. Earlier reports said that Poroshenko issued an order on June 20 instructing the Ukrainian law enforcement units participating in the military operation to cease fire unilaterally in eastern Ukraine from June 20 to June 27. The ceasefire was later extended until June 30. Lyashko, leader of the Lyashko Radical Party, came in third in the Ukrainian presidential elections on May 26, mustering 8.32% of the vote, reports Itar-Tass.
Ukraine's National Security and Defense Council is currently deciding on whether to end or extend a ceasefire in the country's embattled Southeast, Ukraine's Channel 5 reported Monday. The Security Council said it will announce its decision by 22:00 (19:00 UTC), when the deadline for the truce declared by Ukrainian President Petr Poroshenko expires.
Poroshenko, who had won the May 25 early presidential election in Ukraine and taken office on June 7, on June 27 extended by three days a weeklong ceasefire in Ukraine's Southeast, which he unilaterally announced on June 20 and which was later supported by southeastern militias as well. There have been numerous reports that the ceasefire has been violated.
After a coup occurred in Ukraine in February, Crimea did not recognize the new leaders and seceded from the country following a referendum. Its example inspired residents of Ukraine's southeastern territories to defend their rights, and massive protests against the coup-imposed authorities erupted in the Donetsk and Lugansk regions.
Since mid-April, Kiev has been conducting a military operation involving armored vehicles, heavy artillery and attack aviation against the regions' residents who support federalization of Ukraine. Hundreds of people, including civilians, have been killed, buildings have been destroyed and tens of thousands have been forced to cross the border from Ukraine to Russia.
The Donetsk and Lugansk regions, which border on Russia, held referendums on May 11, in which most voters supported independence from Ukraine. South Ossetia has recognized the self-proclaimed Donetsk People's Republic (DPR) and the Lugansk People's Republic (LPR). No other countries have followed suit so far.
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