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On Wednesday, Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko said Russia had withdrawn almost all of its soldiers who had allegedly snuck across international borders to boost separatist forces in Ukraine, and promised greater autonomy for the separatists so that the fragile truce between the two could endure. Poroshenko’s comments come as EU envoys gathered in Brussels to discuss the new set of sanctions to be imposed on Russia, aimed to punish it for its perceived efforts to break up Ukraine.
The Ukrainian President said that Friday’s ceasefire, the first ceasefire backed by both Moscow and Kiev in the past five months, had improved security dramatically in the region.
“According to the latest information I received from our intelligence headquarters, 70 percent of Russia’s forces have been removed”, the Ukrainian Presidency website quoted Poroshenko saying.
Over the past five months, Russia has always denied that it sent soldiers or arms across the Ukrainian border; Russian President Vladimir Putin said that all such claims made by NATO were made to revive the military alliance.
Poroshenko also said that he planned to submit a bill to the Ukrainian parliament next week to allow parts of eastern Ukraine temporary self-rule. However, he stressed that the move is not because the region was slipping out of Ukrainian control.
“Ukraine will not make any concessions on issues of its territorial integrity”, he said.
For some time now, the Kremlin has wanted to turn Ukraine into a federation of broken up states so that eastern Ukraine, a largely Russian-speaking part of the country, could establish diplomatic and trade relations with Russia without federal approval.
“We are not considering remaining part of Ukraine”, said Andrei Purgin, the Deputy Prime Minister of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic.
Poroshenko’s announcement could affect the decision of EU diplomats who are going to take a vote on new sanctions to be imposed on Russia on Wednesday.