Ukraine: Donetsk and Lugansk reaffirm aspirations for independence
Representatives of the self-proclaimed peoples #39; republics of Donetsk and Lugansk have reiterated that they endorse the protocol agreement adopted in Minsk, Belarus but that this does not mean...
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Ukraine: Donetsk and Lugansk reaffirm aspirations for independence - Video
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Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko promised today to propose a bill granting special status to rebellious regions in eastern Ukraine, in a bid to boost support for Kiev amid a shaky cease-fire.
But Mr. Poroshenko said that the east would remain part of Ukraine, underscoring his unwillingness to considercalls from Moscow and pro-Russian rebels for federalization. Kiev has long argued such a move would give the eastern region near complete autonomy and propel it toward secession.
Ukraine will not make any concessions on issues of its territorial integrity, Poroshenko said in remarks during a nationally televised Cabinet meeting addressing the conflict thats so far killed over 3,000, according to the Associated Press.
The president also said that 70 percent of Russian troops in Ukraine have left the country, something he said strengthens our hope for peace prospects, Reuters reports. Russia denies sending troops into Ukraine, a claim that Kiev and its Western supporters strongly dispute.
But Poroshenko also noted that"the cease-fire was not proving easy to maintain because 'terrorists' were constantly trying to provoke Kiev's forces."
The Ukrainian leader's speech comes as he faces mounting pressure in western Ukraine to prove that he did not negotiate away Ukraines territorial integrity during cease-fire talks last week, The Wall Street Journal reports.
It also comes as European Union officials meet in Brussels today to discuss a second set of sanctions against Russiathatwere to be announced earlier this week but were delayed to "assess the viability of a truce in Ukraine without risking further trade retaliation by Russia," Bloomberg notes.
Poroshenko gave few details as to what special status in the east would entail, but said it would be largely along the lines of the 12-point plan agreed to on Friday. But rebel leaders quickly pushed back.
A senior leader of the self-proclaimed Donetsk Peoples Republic said that his group was not backing down from its demand for full independence from Kiev, the Journal reports:
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Ukraine promises 'special status' for east, but no territorial concessions (+video)
"The Minsk protocol envisages the restoration and preservation of Ukrainian sovereignty on all the territory of the Donbass (in eastern Ukraine), including that controlled by the fighters," Poroshenko said.
"There is no question of federalisation or separation of any Ukrainian territory."
The European Union and United States have imposed economic sanctions against Russia over its role in Ukraine, prompting Moscow to retaliate by banning most Western food imports.
The EU has prepared another wave of sanctions targeting Russia's banking and energy sectors but has held off implementing them to see whether the ceasefire holds.
On Wednesday, Poroshenko signed a law allowing Ukraine to impose its own sanctions against Russian firms and individuals deemed to be backing the separatists in eastern Ukraine.
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In Prague, the chairman of the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), which is monitoring the ceasefire, said it would be reasonable to allow more time for the peace process before imposing more sanctions against Russia.
Didier Burkhalter, who is president of Switzerland, also said the OSCE would soon deploy drones to monitor the ceasefire.
Human rights group Amnesty International said in Moscow it had documented evidence of war crimes by both sides and also repeated criticism of Russia's role in the conflict.
"Amnesty International has called the conflict in Ukraine an international conflict and Russia a party to that conflict," the group's secretary general, Salil Shetty, told a news conference.
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Ukraine says Russian forces withdrawing
Published September 10, 2014
September 9, 2014: Students march during a military training exercise in a military school in Boyarka, near Kiev, Ukraine. (AP Photo/Efrem Lukatsky)
KIEV, Ukraine Ukraine's president promised Wednesday to introduce a bill as early as next week that would offer greater autonomy to rebellious regions in the pro-Russia east, where separatists have been battling government troops for almost five months.
But President Petro Poroshenko said the regions would remain part of Ukraine and rejected the idea of federalization, something both Russia and the Russian-backed separatists are still pushing for even after a cease-fire that began Friday.
The cease-fire agreement, reached in Belarus, "envisages the restoration and preservation of Ukrainian sovereignty over the entire territory of Donbas, including the part that is temporarily under control of the rebels," Poroshenko said during a televised Cabinet meeting. "Ukraine has made no concessions with regards to its territorial integrity."
Ukraine and the West have repeatedly accused Russia of fueling the separatists with arms, expertise and even its own troops, something Russia denies. In late August, NATO estimated that more than 1,000 Russian troops were operating on Ukrainian soil, helping to turn the tide of the war in the rebels' favor.
Poroshenko has struggled to paint the Minsk cease-fire agreement reached as the rebels waged a major counteroffensive that pushed back the Ukrainian troops who had encircled them as a victory rather than a defeat. Poroshenko says since the agreement, 70 percent of the Russian troops in Ukraine had been withdrawn.
He also said 700 Ukrainian prisoners had been freed from rebel captivity and expressed hope that another 500 would be freed by the end of the week.
It was unclear, however, how many of those freed were soldiers rather than civilians. Col. Andriy Lysenko, spokesman for the Ukrainian National Security and Defense Council, told journalists Wednesday that only 20 servicemen had returned home so far. In Donetsk, a rebel spokesman said a planned exchange of 36 soldiers from each side had been put off until Thursday, blaming the government for the delay.
The president admitted that "implementing the cease-fire is very difficult" and accused separatists of "provoking" the Ukrainian troops.
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Ukraine president promises greater autonomy to pro-Russian east
Will Ukraine be The Matchstick To Start WW?
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Will Ukraine be The Matchstick To Start WW? - Video