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>On Monday, Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko visited the flashpoint city of Mariupol, where sporadic conflict has rattled the three-day-old ceasefire between rebel forces and the government. The highly-symbolic visit to the port city came just before EU officials called for a new meeting to decide on sanctions against Russia if the truce fails.
Poroshenko wore military attire for the visit to Mariupol; if it were to fall to separatists, a route between annexed Crimea and Russia would open up, cutting off Ukraine from its coastline in the south.
The Ukrainian President also vowed that the city, the only major government-controlled city in the conflict zone, will remain a part of Ukraine.
“It is impossible to win the conflict just by military means. The more we increase the pressure, the more Russian troops are on our territory”, he said in English.
“Withdraw foreign troops and close the border and within a week we (will) find a compromise”, he said.
Poroshenko added that 1,200 prisoners held by the insurgents during the five-month war period had been freed – the number of captives is much higher than the figures stated by the Ukrainian government. Earlier, a spokesman for the Ukrainian defense ministry had said that the rebels handed over only 20 Ukrainian soldiers. Insurgents have not confirmed the release of any prisoners.
EU officials struggled to secure unanimous backing for new economic sanctions on Russia over its alleged part in provoking the conflict in Ukraine.
On Sunday, EU President Herman Van Rompuy said that the new sanctions may be reconsidered “if the ceasefire is durable, and/or if the peace talks start”.
Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev has already warned of an “asymmetrical” response if the new sanctions are adopted, stating that EU airlines will be banned from flying over Russian airspace, through which several European airliners have lucrative routes to Asia.