Ukraine president says his country will remain united
Iran Press TV
Wed Sep 10, 2014 11:48AM GMT
Ukraine's President Petro Poroshenko has said the eastern regions of the country will remain part of Ukraine as pro-Russian fighters insist on independence from the country.
Poroshenko said Wednesday during a televised Cabinet meeting that there will be no such thing as federalization or estrangement of parts of the country.
In addition, Poroshenko stressed that there will be no concessions when it comes to Ukraine's territorial integrity.
However, the president vowed to introduce a bill to parliament, as early as next week, which would grant greater autonomy to the eastern regions of Donetsk and Lugansk currently controlled by pro-Russians.
This is while Andrei Purgin, deputy prime minister of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People's Republic, said the authorities there "are not considering remaining part of Ukraine," vowing to seek outright independence from Kiev.
The developments come just days after Kiev and the pro-Russians inked on September 5, a Russia-proposed ceasefire pact aimed at putting an end to heavy clashes in Ukraine's eastern areas following negotiations in the Belarusian capital city of Minsk.
Ukraine's mainly Russian-speaking regions in the east have witnessed deadly clashes between pro-Moscow forces and the Ukrainian army since Kiev launched military operations to silence pro-Russians in mid-April.
Violence intensified in May after the two flashpoint regions of Donetsk and Lugansk held local referendums in which their residents voted overwhelmingly in favor of independence from Ukraine.
The unrest in eastern Ukraine has so far claimed the lives of more than 2,700 people, while over half a million have been displaced.
CAH/AB/SS
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